Report Title:

Hawaii Administrator Standards Board

 

Description:

Establishes the Hawaii Administrator Standards Board to establish certification standards. Establishes the Hawaii School Administrator Standards Board Revolving Fund. (HB2851 HD2)

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

2851

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

H.D. 2

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to the hawaii teacher standards board.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that as the education reform movement has gained momentum nationwide and in Hawaii over the past two decades, raising standards for all those involved in the educational realm and holding those involved accountable is necessary to strengthen the public school system. The discussion about educational accountability at the school level often begins with leadership. Countless studies show that a crucial factor in determining whether schools and districts succeed or fail is the quality and stability of their leadership. "Behind every great school is a great principal," is a notion permeating throughout school districts nationwide and in Hawaii. School administrators must be given the appropriate education, training, professional development, and support they need to be qualified leaders and to create school environments that will succeed. The legislature concludes that to strengthen the school administrator profession, standards for public school administrators must be set forth by a board that also ensures these standards are being met. This body legitimizes the school administrator profession by allowing school administrators the right to govern themselves and creates a pool of qualified school administrator applicants to strengthen Hawaii’s public school system.

The purpose of this Act is to establish the Hawaii administrator standards board to adopt school administrator certification standards and to monitor administrator quality by issuing, renewing, revoking, and suspending school administrator certificates.

This Act also strengthens the role of administrators in setting standards for the approval of preparation programs for school administrators.

SECTION 2. Chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statues, is amended by adding a new subpart to part III to read as follows:

"   .    Hawaii Administrator Standards Board

§302A- Hawaii administrator standards board established. (a) There is established the Hawaii administrator standards board, which shall be placed within the department for administrative purposes only. The board shall consist of seven members, including:

(1) Not less than four certificated school administrators regularly engaged in school administration;

(2) The chairperson of the board of education or the chairperson’s designee;

(3) The superintendent or the superintendent’s designee; and

(4) The dean of the University of Hawaii college of education or the dean’s designee; provided that the dean’s designee shall be chosen from the member institutions of the teacher education coordinating committee established under section 304-20.

  1. Except for the chairperson of the board of education, the superintendent, and the dean of the college of education, the governor shall appoint the members of the board pursuant to section 26-34, from a list of qualified nominees submitted to the governor by the departments, agencies, and organization representative of the constituencies of the board. To the extent possible, the board membership shall reflect representation of elementary and secondary school administrators from all islands.
  2. Appointed board members shall serve no more than

three consecutive three-year terms; provided that the initial terms of the appointed members shall be staggered as follows:

    1. Three members to serve three-year terms;
    2. Three members to serve two-year terms; and
    3. One member to serve a one-year term.
    1. Board members shall receive no compensation. When board duties require that a board member take leave of the board member’s duties as a state employee, the appropriate state department shall allow the board member to be placed on administrative leave with pay and shall provide substitutes, when necessary, to perform that board member’s duties. Board members shall be reimbursed for necessary travel expenses incurred in the conduct of official board business.
    2. The chairperson of the board shall be designated by the members of the board.

§302A- Certification standards. (a) Beginning July 1, 2004, the board shall establish certification standards that govern school administrator certification in Hawaii. Certification standards established by the board shall be adopted as rules under chapter 91 unless otherwise specified in this subpart.

(b) In the development of its standards, the board shall consider the existing school administrator applicant pool that is available in the State and the level of the qualification of these applicants, as well as the nature and availability of existing school administrator training programs. The board shall also consider alternative routes to certification.

§302A- Powers and duties of the board. In addition to establishing standards for the issuance and renewal of certificates, the board’s powers shall also include:

(1) Setting and administering its own budget;

(2) Adopting, amending, repealing, or suspending the policies, standards, or rules of the board in accordance with chapter 91;

(3) Receiving grants or donations from private foundations, and state and federal funds;

(4) Submitting an annual report to the governor and the legislature on the board’s operations and from the 2009-2010 school year, submitting a summary report every five years of the board's accomplishment of objectives, efforts to improve and/or maintain school administrator quality, and efforts to keep its operations responsive and efficient;

(5) Conducting a cyclical review of standards and suggesting revision for their improvement;

(6) Establishing certification fees in accordance with chapter 91, including the collection of fees by means of mandatory payroll deductions, which shall subsequently be deposited into the state treasury and credited to the Hawaii school administrator standards board revolving fund;

(7) Establishing penalties in accordance with chapter 91;

(8) Issuing, renewing, revoking, suspending, and reinstating certificates;

(9) Applying certification standards on a case-by-case basis and conducting certification evaluations;

(10) Preparing and disseminating school administrator certification information to schools and operational personnel;

(11) Approving school administrator preparation programs;

(12) Working with the Hawaii teacher standards board on reciprocity agreements with other states relative to administrator certification;

(13) Conducting professional development related to the board's standards and promoting high school administrator standards; and

(14) Adopting applicable rules and procedures.

§302A- Powers and duties of the department. The

department shall retain all of its rights and powers except for the authority provided to the board under this subpart. The department’s powers and duties under this subpart shall be limited to:

(1) Hiring, except in emergency situations as described in this chapter, certificated school administrators;

(2) Reporting data annually to the board about the supply of, and demand for, school administrators, including the identification of shortage areas;

(3) On an emergency and case-by-case basis, hiring uncertificated individuals; provided that:

(A) A list of the names, work sites, assignments, and progress toward certification of these individuals shall be reported to the board and any changes shall be updated on an annual basis by the department; and

(B) There are no properly certificated school administrators for the specific assignments for which the individuals are being hired;

(4) Submitting an annual report to the board documenting:

(A) The number of emergency hires by schools;

(B) The reasons and duration of employment for the emergency hiring; and

(C) The department’s efforts to address the shortages described in subparagraph (A); and

(5) Providing any other information requested by the board that is pertinent to its powers and duties.

§302A- School administrators; certificate required;

renewals. (a) Beginning with the 2004-2005 school year, no person shall serve as a school administrator in a public school without first having obtained a certificate from the board under this subpart. All certificates issued by the board shall be renewable every five years, if the certificate holder continues to satisfy the board’s certification standards.

(b) All certificates issued by the board shall be renewable every five years if the individual continues to:

    1. Satisfy the board’s certification standards;
    2. Show evidence of successful school administration in the previous five years; and
    3. Satisfy the board’s requirements for renewal of certificates.

No person shall be issued a certificate or work on an emergency basis in the public schools without having first paid the fees established by the board in accordance with chapter 91.

§302A- Hawaii school administrator standards board revolving fund. There is established within the state treasury a revolving fund to be known as the Hawaii school administrator standards board revolving fund, into which shall be deposited all moneys received by the board in the form of appropriations, fees, fines, grants, donations, or revenues regardless of their source. The revolving fund shall be administered by the department and used to pay the expenses of the board, including but not limited to the payment of all operational and personnel costs, and reimbursements to board members for travel expenses incurred.

§302A- Refusal, suspension, revocation, and reinstatement of certificates. (a) The board shall serve as the final adjudicator for appeals relating to certification, including the issuance or nonissuance of certificates, and the suspension, nonrenewal, and revocation of certificates.

(b) The board shall establish procedures for the conduct of proceedings for the consideration of requests filed with the board. In every case to revoke or suspend a certificate or credential, the board shall give the person concerned written notice that a request has been filed with the board. The board shall conduct a hearing in conformity with chapter 91, and shall provide for confidentiality of the proceedings to protect the parties. In all proceedings before it, the board may administer oaths, compel the attendance of witnesses and production of documentary evidence, and examine witnesses. In case of disobedience by any person to any order of the board or to any subpoena issued by the board, or the refusal of any witness to testify to any matter that the person may be questioned lawfully, any circuit judge, on application of the board or a member thereof, shall compel obedience in the case of disobedience of the requirements of a subpoena issued by a circuit court or a refusal to testify.

(c) Any applicant who has been refused a certificate or any certificate holder whose certificate has been suspended or revoked shall have the right to appeal the board’s decision to the circuit court of the circuit in which the applicant or certificate holder resides in the manner provided in chapter 91; provided that out-of-state resident applicants shall file their appeals in the first circuit court.

(d) Upon revocation of a certificate, the board may disclose the name, birthdate, social security number, and any other pertinent information about the former holder of the certificate:

(1) To the department; and

(2) For the purpose of exchanging information under chapter 315 with other national or state school administrator certification agencies about school personnel who have had certificates or credentials revoked.

§302A- Penalty. Any person who serves as an administrator in a public school without first being issued a certificate or hired on an emergency basis as defined in this chapter shall be fined not more than $500. Any person who knowingly or intentionally violates this subpart by employing an individual as a public school administrator who does not possess a valid certificate or is not a department of education emergency hire as defined in this chapter may be fined not more than $500. All fines shall be deposited into the Hawaii school administrator standards board revolving fund."

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2004, and shall be repealed on June 30, 2009.