About two-thirds of the 3,001 children who once attended Lahaina’s four public schools still have not enrolled in other Hawaii public schools or the state’s distance learning program. And state officials cannot tell yet exactly how many have left the system for private schools or the mainland, are pausing schooling, or are among the roughly 1,000 West Maui residents reportedly still missing in the wildfires disaster.
As of Monday only 538 of the Lahaina students had reenrolled in other Hawaii public schools, and 438 students had signed up for the State Distance Learning Program, according to a “Maui Wildfire Impacts” report that state Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi is scheduled to present today at a state Board of Education meeting.
That leaves 2,025 Lahaina students “who have not enrolled in another public school or opted for distance learning (may have moved out of state, enrolled in private schools),” Hayashi’s report says.