Kanuikapono Public Charter School on Kauai has a 1% chronic absenteeism rate -- the lowest in Hawaii. Connections PCS, an online virtual school, has a 59% rate -- the second-highest in the state after Olomana, an alternative school. Both are charter schools. The 58-point gap between them is the widest spread of any school category in Hawaii's data.

Of 20 identifiable charter and public charter schools in 2025, rates span the full spectrum: from 1% to 59%, with 11 above the state average of 24% and 9 below. The category tells you almost nothing about a school's attendance outcomes.

The Full Range

School	Rate
Kanuikapono PCS	1%
Na Wai Ola PCS	3%
Kanu o ka 'Aina NCPCS	9%
Malama Honua PCS	13%
Voyager PCS	16%
Kihei Charter	18%
Alaka'i O Kaua'i Charter	19%
Laupahoehoe Community PCS	19%
Innovations PCS	24%
Kona Pacific PCS	26%
West Hawaii Explorations PCS	26%
Kawaikini NCPCS	28%
Kapolei Charter	30%
Kualapu'u Conversion Charter	31%
Halau Ku Mana PCS	33%
Ka Waihona o ka Na'auao PCS	39%
Kua O Ka La NCPCS	39%
Ke Ana La'ahana PCS	40%
Ke Kula Niihau o Kekaha - LPCS	41%
Connections PCS	59%

The pattern does not sort cleanly by any single factor. Hawaiian immersion and culturally-focused charters appear at both extremes: Kanuikapono (1%) and Kanu o ka 'Aina (9%) are among the best, while Ke Ana La'ahana (40%) and Kua O Ka La (39%) are among the worst.

Na Wai Ola's Dramatic Turnaround

The most striking individual charter story belongs to Na Wai Ola Public Charter School, which went from a 40% chronic rate in 2019 to 57% at its COVID peak, then dropped to just 3% in 2025. The 37-point improvement from the pre-COVID baseline makes it one of the most dramatic turnarounds in the state -- the school is now 37 points better than where it started.

The 2025 number -- a drop from 45% in 2024 to 3% in 2025 -- is a single-year improvement of 42 percentage points. That kind of overnight transformation in a small school often reflects a fundamental change in how the school operates, who it serves, or how attendance is measured.

Charter vs. Traditional: No Clear Winner

When compared as sectors, charter and traditional schools have nearly identical average chronic absenteeism rates in 2025: charters average 26.0% compared to 24.3% for traditional schools. The median rates are also similar: 26% for charters and 23% for traditional.

The difference is in the tails. Charters include both the state's best (1%) and some of its worst schools. Traditional schools cluster more tightly around the average, with a range of 2% to 73% (Olomana, an alternative school, being the outlier at the top).

What the Spread Reveals

Kanuikapono sits on Kauai's north shore, runs a Hawaiian language immersion program, and enrolls fewer than 200 students whose families specifically chose a culturally-grounded school. Connections PCS is a statewide virtual school where students log in from home. Comparing their attendance rates is like comparing a family restaurant to a food truck -- the product looks similar on paper, but the operations have almost nothing in common.

The virtual school question matters. Connections PCS's 59% rate reflects a problem every state struggles with: what does "attendance" mean when there is no building? The metric of missing 15+ days was designed for schools with walls and bells. Apply it to online instruction and the numbers measure something different.

Policymakers who treat charter schools as a single sector are looking at a label, not a reality. A Hawaiian immersion school on Kauai and a virtual school enrolling students across six islands share a governance category and nothing else.

The Hawaii Department of Education and the Hawaii State Public Charter School Commission did not respond to requests for comment.

Detailed code that reproduces the analysis and figures in this article is available exclusively to EdTribune subscribers.