A dispute over the overcrowded Campbell High School flared up again during debate on the floor of the state House of Representatives on Wednesday, with Rep. Bob McDermott saying House Democrats were guilty of a “grotesque misfire” for funding a new high school on Maui instead of a new Kapolei high school.

During discussion of the proposed $13.5 billion state budget for next year, McDermott objected to an appropriation of $37.5 million for the second phase of construction for the new Kihei High School on Maui.

McDermott (R, Ewa Beach-Iroquois Point) contends enrollment is expected to decline on Maui, while enrollment at Campbell High School in his district has topped 3,100 students.

He also contends that if the new Maui high school is built, it will delay plans for a new high school for Kapolei to relieve overcrowding there.

“If we build that school, we will hurt my children, literally and figuratively,” McDermott told his colleagues. “That’s why it cannot be built, because we will handcuff the department for the next decade.”

McDermott said Campbell is so overcrowded that it now has 44 portable classrooms on the campus, adding that “this is just unacceptable, Mr. Speaker, and it cannot go on.”

According to figures released by the House leadership Wednesday, the House draft of the proposed budget includes a total of more than $300 million for school facilities statewide, including new construction.

House Finance Committee Chairwoman Sylvia Luke said the state previously provided $30 million to begin work on the Kihei High School project, which was a top priority for former Gov. Neil Abercrombie and is still a priority for the state Department of Education. The proposed new draft of the budget would provide an additional $37.5 million to continue the project.

Luke (D, Punchbowl-Pauoa-Nuuanu) said the state can also build the new Kapolei high school, and noted the new draft budget also provides $15 million to move forward with a new classroom building for Campbell High.

Rep. Matthew LoPresti (D, Ewa Villages-Ocean Pointe-Ewa Beach) said Superintendent of Education Kathryn Matayoshi has said the “top priority” for the DOE during the two-year 2018-2019 budget cycle will be a request for money for a new Kapolei high school.

“He knows that,” LoPresti said of McDermott. “You don’t do your job by grandstanding at the last minute on the floor. You do your job by speaking and working with the Finance (committee) chair and the DOE to get this done.”

House lawmakers voted Wednesday to approve the draft budget, with only Rep. Gene Ward (R, Kalama Valley-Queen’s Gate-Hawaii Kai) voting against the bill. The measure now goes to the state Senate for further consideration and revisions.