HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

265

TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 


HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO SEPARATe NANAKULI HIGH SCHOOL FROM NANAKULI INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, Nanakuli High School and Nanakuli Intermediate School have shared the same facilities for over three decades; and

 

     WHEREAS, there were numerous well-intentioned and logical reasons for this consolidation, including enrollment rates, economies of scale, and cost; and

 

     WHEREAS, Nanakuli High School students range in age from 14 to 18 years old and Nanakuli Intermediate School students range in age from 11 to 14 years old; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center reports that the Waianae Coast, including Nanakuli, has extensive needs in areas of mental illness, family and domestic violence, substance abuse, and teenage pregnancies; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Waianae Coast has the highest rate in the state of teenage mothers between the ages of 12 and 17; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to Na Hulu Mamo Ohana Way, statistics also point to the Waianae Coast as having the most babies born addicted to drugs, the most mothers between the ages of 12 to 17 who give birth to addicted babies, and the most mothers between the ages of 12 to 17 who are addicted to drugs; and

 

     WHEREAS, according to the Star Bulletin, in 2006, 30 out of 250 seventh graders and 60 out of 260 eighth graders failed to move up to the next grade; and

 

     WHEREAS, fights at Nanakuli High School and Nanakuli Intermediate School have been publicized over the past several years, and have required police intervention; and

 

     WHEREAS, although not publicized, situations of bullying and assault occur on and around the campus; and

 

     WHEREAS, it is difficult for students to succeed academically when dealing with the pressures of bullying and intimidation and teen pregnancy; and

 

     WHEREAS, part of the reason for the higher incidences of these issues may be the intermingling of the younger intermediate students with the older high school students; and

 

     WHEREAS, health and educational professionals believe that younger intermediate students would have a better chance of growing and succeeding in a separate environment from high school students; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that the department of education is requested to separate Nanakuli High School and Nanakuli Intermediate School; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that separation may include the possibility of using the same facilities, but reorganizing and reconfiguring curricula to accommodate separate use of facilities; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Education, and the Governor.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Nanakuli High School and Nanakuli Intermediate School; separation