As the state considers closing Ka'a'awa Elementary School, some in the community are gearing up for a fight.

Ka'a'awa is on a list of areas the state Department of Education is studying for possible school consolidation. The Hau'ula and Waiahole elementary schools, which are about seven miles away on each side of Ka'a'awa, are the most likely schools Ka'a'awa students would attend if their campus closes.

But the news does not sit well with some people in the community, who have begun to spread the word through e-mail and fliers.

There will be an informational community meeting about the issue tonight.

"We're just not going to lie down and roll over," said Kaye Walsh, a Ka'a'awa resident who volunteers at the school.

She believes that her arguments for keeping the school open are compelling.

"It's the only successful school out here," she said. "We're fully staffed and there's 158 students out of a capacity of 161. We've never missed" state performance goals under the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

With an anticipated budget cut of $70 million next year, officials are looking at ways to reduce schooling costs.

State schools superintendent Patricia Hamamoto has asked school complexes to establish task forces to examine potential consolidations and closures in areas where enrollment has been on the decline.

In Ka'a'awa's situation, the DOE is also looking at the condition of the school, another criterion for consolidation. One-third or more of the facility's square footage requires replacement or improvement, Hamamoto wrote in a Dec. 10 memo to area superintendent Lea Albert explaining why Ka'a'awa was selected for possible closure.

The school has other shortcomings as well, Hamamoto wrote: It's on a blind curve, it's in a flood plain and tsunami inundation zone, and the DOE must close the campus cesspool and replace it with a septic system at an estimated cost of $5 million. Further, the water table is so high there that five feet of fill would have to be brought in to build a leach field for the septic system, Hamamoto said. That would put neighbors at risk of flooding, she said.

Albert said she has called for volunteers from the three areas to come forward by the end of the month for a task force, which could convene shortly after. Members will consider enrollment, whether the facility is being fully used and whether the nearby schools can accommodate displaced students, Albert said.

"My hope is that the process is fair, clean and clear, and the result is a recommendation based on the criteria," she said. "Most of all, whatever occurs, whatever the study puts forward, that it's in the best interest of the children at Ka'a'awa."

The Ka'a'awa Community Association is hosting tonight's informational meeting. Albert will attend to explain the process, said Reb Bellinger, association president.

Besides learning more about the process, Bellinger said, he hopes to find out if the closure is a "done deal or are we all spinning wheels."