STAND. COM. REP. NO. 991

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    H.B. No. 338

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 338, H.D. 2, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish the:

 

     (1)  Student member of the Board of Education as a voting member of the Board;

 

     (2)  Procedure by which the student member shall be appointed by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate; and

 

     (3)  Qualification requirements and term limits for the student member to the Board of Education.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Board of Education, Hawaii State Teachers Association, Imua Alliance, and ninety-four students.  Your Committee also received a petition in support of this measure containing two hundred twenty-two signatures.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the League of Women Voters of Hawaii.

 

     Your Committee finds that the Legislature recently passed and the Governor recently signed into law Act 5, Session Laws of Hawaii 2011 (Act 5), which established a framework and appointment process for an appointed Board of Education.  Act 5 provided for a limited student role on the Board of Education as a non-voting high school student representative.   

 

     Your Committee recognizes that the student member on the Board of Education provides the Board with a unique perspective and gives the student population direct representation on the Board.  Your Committee believes that Hawaii's students are the primary stakeholders of the public education system and therefore should be represented by a Board member whose decisions in that capacity are equally weighted with those of other Board members, except in issues directly relating to personnel matters.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting language to amend section 2 of Act 5, Session Laws of Hawaii 2011, by:

 

         (A)  Incorporating provisions of this measure that establish a public high school student as a voting member on the Board of Education and set forth the terms and conditions for the appointment of the student member by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate; and

 

         (B)  Granting the student member voting rights on all issues except issues directly relating to personnel matters;

 

     (2)  Making a conforming amendment to section 302A-447, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to disallow the Hawaii State Student Council to determine how the student member on the Board is selected;

 

     (3)  Making this measure effective upon approval; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 338, H.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 338, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

 

 

 

____________________________

JILL TOKUDA, Chair