HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.R. NO. |
98 |
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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HOUSE RESOLUTION
requesting the DEPARTMENT of education to improve its delivery of services to special needs children and their families by reconsidering the rates paid to intensive instructional services consultants.
WHEREAS, since the lifting of the Felix consent decree in 2005, the Department of Education has decreased its spending on special education contracts; and
WHEREAS, parents of special education students have noted that some services for their children have gradually been eliminated and that the number of available intensive instructional services consultants are being restricted; and
WHEREAS, services provided by intensive instructional services consultants include skills training, parent training, and supportive services for children with special needs; and
WHEREAS, the rates paid for these services have been changed, standardized, or capped by the Department of Education; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature understands that there is a need to establish a standard rate for intensive instructional services consultants and that proposed consultant rates are scheduled to take effect July 1, 2007; and
WHEREAS, families in need of psychiatric services through the Department of Education may suffer or experience hardship due to the new rates paid to consultants; and
WHEREAS, given the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act, the State of Hawaii can ill afford a loss of services to special needs children; 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 review the discrepancies between the current rates paid to intensive instructional services consultants and the proposed rates that are scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2007, as well as determine the impact of the proposed rates on special needs students and their families; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to report its findings and recommendations to the Legislature and to members of the general public prior to July 1, 2007; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to designate the area of Honoka‘a on the island of Hawaii as "rural" to qualify for the nine per cent differential rate in intensive instructional services consultant rates; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to engage behavioral health specialists, as well as parents of children in need of intensive instructional services consultants, in discussions using professional and unbiased facilitators to promote a positive exchange of information; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and the Superintendent of Education.
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OFFERED BY: |
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DOE; Special Needs Children; Contracted Services