STAND. COM. REP. NO. 617

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 1999

                                 RE: H.B. No. 841
                                     




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.
841 entitled:

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR A PARENT-
     COMMUNITY NETWORKING CENTER DISTRICT COORDINATOR POSITION
     FOR KAUAI,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds for a
Parent-Community Networking Center district coordinator position
for Kauai.

     Your Committee finds that the Parent-Community Networking
Center (PCNC) program has become an important link between
parents, schools, and the community.  In light of the recognition
of the vital role of parents as their children's first and
foremost teachers and the overwhelming evidence that parents'
qualitative involvement in schools is critical to the success of
their children, the PCNC's emphasis on family support services
has become an integral part of the Department of Education's
Comprehensive Student Support System.

     PCNC facilitators also play a vital role in the
implementation of the State's Action Plan for the Provision of
Services to Children with Disabilities to ensure the State's full
compliance with the Felix Consent Decree.  Your Committee further
finds that the district coordinator is an essential element of

 
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                                 Page 2

 
the Parent-Community Networking Center program, providing
critical training and assistance to the PCNC school facilitators,
and that funding for the district coordinator position is
necessary to maintain the effectiveness of the Parent-Community
Networking Center program on Kauai.

     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.
841 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to
the Committee on Finance.

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



                                   ______________________________
                                   KEN ITO, Chair

 
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