KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Some DODDS high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors on Okinawa might find themselves going to different schools than expected this coming school year.
The zoning districts for the high schools may be changed to balance enrollment, Dr. Gayle Vaughn-Wiles, superintendent of Department of Defense Dependents Schools on Okinawa, announced recently. Vaughn-Wiles said changes are needed to balance enrollment between Kubasaki and Kadena high schools.
Next year’s senior class will not be affected, she said. “They can graduate from their current high school if they choose.”
Several changes were recommended by a committee of parents, teachers, teachers’ union officials, administrators and representatives from the Army, Air Force and Marines, said Henry Meyer, the district’s communications officer.
Meyer said 950 students are enrolled at Kadena and 630 at Kubasaki. He said enrollments should balance out in the future, when more Marine families move to the island.
“With the Marines changing their two lengths for Okinawa assignments, DODDS expects 1,000 additional students over the next three to four years,” he said. “Many of those students will be going to Kubasaki and rezoning of the districts will be necessary to even out enrollment.”
In the meantime, a short-term fix is needed, Vaughn-Wiles said.
“Kadena High School is bursting at the seams and Kubasaki High School’s enrollment is under capacity,” she said. “One of the things we can do to help this is to send all Space A students to Kubasaki for the next school year.”
Space A students are students not covered by the status of forces agreement who attend DODDS schools on a space-available basis. “There is no space available at Kadena High School,” she said, adding, “The other immediate solution we can make is to reduce the number of waivers from Kubasaki.” Where students live determines where they attend school. Some parents have requested a waiver for their children to attend Kadena instead of Kubasaki.
“In the past we have been fairly liberal in our granting of waivers,” Vaughn-Wiles said. “For next year, we will only grant waivers when there is a compelling reason. We will look more favorably on requests for waivers from Kadena to Kubasaki.” She said the district’s zoning committee is examining other solutions, such as redrawing the school boundaries.
