REPORT TITLE:
Student Misconduct, Discipline


DESCRIPTION:
Requires the superintendent of education, with the assistance of
the attorney general, to review chapter 8-19 of the
administrative rules of the DOE (student misconduct and
discipline) to identify and correct any inconsistencies or
conflicts between chapter 8-19 and existing statutory law.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                            1737        
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES                H.B. NO.           
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 1999                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO STUDENT MISCONDUCT AND DISCIPLINE.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that there may be
 
 2 inconsistencies or conflicts between chapter 8-19, Hawaii
 
 3 Administrative Rules (department of education)(student
 
 4 misconduct, discipline, school searches and seizures, reporting
 
 5 offenses, police interviews and arrests, and restitution for
 
 6 vandalism and negligence), and existing statutory law.
 
 7      For example, "nunchucku sticks" are defined by chapter 8-19,
 
 8 Hawaii Administrative Rules (department of education)(student
 
 9 misconduct, discipline, school searches and seizures, reporting
 
10 offenses, police interviews and arrests, and restitution for
 
11 vandalism and negligence) to be "dangerous instruments".
 
12 Possession of dangerous instruments is considered a class A
 
13 offense (unlawful conduct) by the department of education, and
 
14 subjects a student to detention, crisis suspension, suspension
 
15 for one to ten days, suspension for eleven or more days,
 
16 disciplinary transfer, or dismissal.  On the other hand, section
 
17 134-51, Hawaii Revised Statutes, as interpreted by the Hawaii
 
18 supreme court, does not consider nunchucku sticks to be a "deadly
 
19 or dangerous weapon".  Consequently, at least according to
 

 
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                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 anecdotal reports from school personnel, county police
 
 2 departments will not arrest students for possessing nunchucku
 
 3 sticks on campus, and those students can only be made to serve
 
 4 detention, be suspended from school, transferred to another
 
 5 school, or dismissed from school by the department of education.
 
 6      The legislature believes that there should be one uniform
 
 7 definition of an unlawful weapon or instrument, and that this
 
 8 definition--whether it is "dangerous instrument", "dangerous
 
 9 weapon", or "deadly weapon"--should be applied on and off public
 
10 school campuses, and with the same resultant penalties for minors
 
11 and adults, including arrest.  These different definitions are
 
12 confusing for school personnel, and frustrate attempts to
 
13 maintain law and order on public school campuses at a time when
 
14 student discipline is deteriorating.
 
15      The purpose of this Act is to require the superintendent of
 
16 education, with the assistance of the attorney general, to review
 
17 chapter 8-19 of the administrative rules of the department of
 
18 education to identify and correct any inconsistencies or
 
19 conflicts between chapter 8-19 and existing statutory law.
 
20      SECTION 2.  The superintendent of education, with the
 
21 assistance of the attorney general, shall review chapter 8-19,
 
22 Hawaii Administrative Rules (department of education) (student
 
23 misconduct, discipline, school searches and seizures, reporting
 

 
Page 3                                         1737        
                                     H.B. NO.           
                                                        
                                                        

 
 1 offenses, police interviews and arrests, and restitution for
 
 2 vandalism and negligence), to identify and correct any
 
 3 inconsistencies or conflicts between chapter 8-19, Hawaii
 
 4 Administrative Rules and existing statutory law, including
 
 5 chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes.  If inconsistencies or
 
 6 conflicts exist between chapter 8-19 and existing statutory law,
 
 7 including chapter 302A, the superintendent shall initiate
 
 8 rulemaking proceedings in accordance with chapter 91, Hawaii
 
 9 Revised Statutes, to correct the same.  The superintendent shall
 
10 submit a status report to the legislature on the review of
 
11 chapter 8-19, and any rulemaking proceedings initiated pursuant
 
12 to this Act, not more than twenty days prior to the convening of
 
13 the regular session of 2000.
 
14      SECTION 3.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
 
15 
 
16                           INTRODUCED BY:  _______________________