STAND. COM. REP. NO. 548

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 319
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No.
319 entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL HEALTH SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to improve the safety and health
of Hawaii's students by initiating a pilot project within the
Department of Health (DOH), which will expand the workday of
school health aides from six and one-half hours to eight hours
per day at twelve large secondary public school statewide.

     Testimony in support of the bill was received from the
Hawaii Government Employee Association and four school health
aides.  

     DOH testified in opposition to the bill, stating that
increasing the workday will not alleviate the problem of
inadequate coverage for schools with high numbers of students
seen in the health room, or improve the safety and health of
students during the school day, because the proposed expansion of
hours will take place when students are not in school.  The
Department of Education testified that it concurred with DOH's
position on the bill.

     Your Committee finds that by increasing the workday to
include time when students are not in school, school health aides
will have more time to complete necessary paperwork, surveys, and
other types of information gathering.  This, in turn, will allow
student health aides to fully focus on and provide for students'
health care needs during the regular school day.

 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 548
                                 Page 2

 

     Your Committee has amended this bill by making technical,
nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style and clarity.

     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.
319, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the
Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 319,
H.D. 1.

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



                                   ______________________________
                                   KEN ITO, Chair