Enrollment
HRS §302D-34
in effect302D-34. Enrollment
(a) A public charter school shall not discriminate against any student or limit admission based on race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, income level, disability, level of proficiency in the English language, need for special education services, or academic or athletic ability.
(b) A start-up charter school:
(1) Shall be open to any student residing in the
State who is entitled to attend a department school;
(2) Shall enroll all students who submit an
application, unless the number of students who submit an application exceeds
the capacity of a program, class, grade level, or building; provided that a
student who is currently enrolled in a charter school that has been notified of
the prospect of revocation in accordance with section 302D-18, or is closing in
accordance with section 302D-19, whichever occurs first, may be given first
priority to enroll at another charter school to which the student applies, or placed
at the top of the waitlist for enrollment;
(3) Shall select students through a public lottery
if, as described in paragraph (2), capacity is insufficient to enroll all
students who have submitted a timely application;
(4) May give an enrollment preference to students
within a given age group or grade level and may be organized around a special
emphasis, theme, or concept as stated in the charter school's application and
as approved by the charter school's authorizer;
(5) May give an enrollment preference to students
enrolled in the charter school during the previous school year and to siblings
of students already enrolled at the charter school;
(6) May give an enrollment preference through a
weighted lottery to educationally disadvantaged students. For the purposes of
this paragraph:
"Educationally
disadvantaged students" means students who are economically disadvantaged,
students with disabilities, migrant students, limited English proficient
students, neglected or delinquent students, and homeless students.
"Weighted lottery"
means any lottery that gives additional weight to individual students who are
identified as part of a specified set of students but does not reserve or set
aside seats for individual students or sets of students; and
(7) May give any other enrollment preference
permitted by the charter school's authorizer, on an individual charter school
basis, if consistent with law;
provided that nothing in this subsection shall
preclude the formation of a start-up charter school whose mission is focused on
serving students with disabilities, who are of the same gender, who pose such
severe disciplinary problems that they warrant a specific educational program,
or who are at a risk of academic failure.
(c) A conversion charter school shall:
(1) Enroll any student who resides within the
school's former geographic service area pursuant to section 302A-1143, for the
grades that were in place when the department school converted to a charter
school; provided that the department may consult with a conversion charter
school every three years to determine whether realignment of the charter
school's service area is appropriate given population shifts and the
department's overall service area reviews; and
(2) Be subject to subsection (b):
(A) For grades that were not in place when
the school converted to a public charter school; and
(B) For any seats still available at the
charter school after the enrollment of all students desiring to attend the
charter school who reside within the school's former geographic service area
pursuant to section 302A-1143.
[L 2013, c 159, pt of §1; am L 2014, c 99, §23;
am L 2015, c 111, §§1, 5 and c 114, §11; am L 2016, c 55, §53 and c 113, §6]
Source: Hawaii State Legislature (capitol.hawaii.gov), via Internet Archive capturesURL: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/hrscurrent/Vol05_Ch0261-0319/HRS0302D/HRS_0302D-0034.htmFetched: 11/10/2026