A proposal to move Ka'a'awa and Kahuku schools out of flood and tsunami zones has support from community members who have tried for years to move the schools to higher ground.

The prospect of relocating schools in those Windward communities materialized when Hawaii Baptist Academy proposed a land swap with the state. HBA wants title to land it is leasing from the state in Nu'uanu to build a middle school. In return, the private school would buy Windward land and give it to the state for new campuses in Ka'a'awa and/or Kahuku.

The lands under consideration are 49.7 acres behind Ka'a'awa Elementary School, which is owned by Kualoa Ranch, and a 58.4-acre parcel above Kahuku High and Intermediate School. Aina Nui Corp., an affiliate of the Estate of James Campbell, owns the Kahuku parcel.

Both sites have been considered by the community and schools but no action was taken.

John Morgan, president of Kualoa Ranch, said he offered to swap the same ranch land for the school property last year but the deal died because the ranch would have to carry uncertain and unknown liability burdens.

Morgan said he would be open to the HBA proposal, although he wasn't sure how it would evolve.

"We're willing participants in continued negotiations and discussions," he said. "I think it would be good for everybody."

Morgan said he sees a possibility to do more than just build a new school.

"There may be an opportunity to combine some community structure with the school and build something permanent and hard where it could be used as a community shelter in times of storms," he said.

Ka'a'awa school principal Todd Watanabe said new facilities are needed at the school, which is made up of portable buildings and one permanent classroom structure. Located across the street from the beach, the campus is not only exposed to tsunami but also to the corrosive action of salt air.

"There's definitely some safety benefits (to relocating)," Watanabe said.

He said the school's small enrollment — 145 students — should not make a difference in the decision, saying small schools benefit children, and he expects the school to grow.

"We have pretty high student achievement here and some of that is attributable to our size and flexibility," Watanabe said.

Kahuku school, which has a history of flooding, has about 1,800 students.

The football field is 7 feet below sea level and all buildings except one are in the flood zone, said Joe Whitford, school athletic director.

"The last big rain, we had to sandbag our gym just to ensure the gym didn't get flooded," he said, adding that the school has wanted to move mauka for decades. "For us athletically it would be awesome."

School principal Lisa DeLong said at least once a year portions of the school have to be closed because of flooding.

"The current campus is also substantially undersized for our enrollment so facilities are inadequate, such as our number of classrooms and library," she said. "With a better campus design (at a new site), we would cluster classrooms and work areas to promote teaming so teachers can work together more collegially and students benefit from more personalized, relevant, and rigorous instruction."

Reach Eloise Aguiar at eaguiar@honoluluadvertiser.com.