Report Title:

Parent-Community Networking Center Program

Description:

Appropriates funds to continue the implementation of the parent-community networking center program.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2233

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2002

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to the parent-community networking center program.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the highly successful parent-community networking centers were started at public elementary, intermediate/middle, and high schools in 1986 through the community education section of the department of education. There are four phases of development in a comprehensive parent-community networking center system of support for students, parents, and teachers. Each parent-community networking center has a different set of program components because each center is designed to address the pressing needs and goals of its particular school/community.

Phases I and II begin with the establishment of a parent-community networking center at the school-building level. At this level, the variety of services may include educational workshops or programs for parents on coaching children in homework, student mentoring, brain development, and understanding educational standards, tutoring services in literacy, working with the Volunteers in Service to America program, supervising homework centers as a refuge for serious studies, providing school supplies, recruiting and training volunteers, coordinating partnerships with community agencies, organizing career fairs, the "Read To Me" events, fund-raising, and organizing for donated supplies and volunteer services for campus beautification.

Phases III and IV focus on strengthening each individual classroom unit by forming productive teacher-parent partnerships that ensure higher student productivity and achievement in performance standards. At this level, the variety of services may include enabling a classroom parent coordinator to train classroom parent volunteers (one per teacher) who assist teachers at the classroom level and coordinate parent education classes, obtaining teaching aides, and activities that train and empower parents to function as teaching partners at home, including fostering parental accountability and duties in their child's motivation, learning skills, and personal behavior that may affect all children in the classroom. The legislature finds that in phases III and IV, where teacher-parent partnerships are forged at the classroom level by the teacher and volunteer classroom parent, higher student achievement has resulted in each of the past three years at the pilot phases at Kapunahala school as indicated by a three-year longitudinal report of student Stanford Achievement Test scores. Today, more schools stand ready to incorporate theses proven successful parent-community networking center phases.

Parent-community networking centers have historically generated back to the State gifts and in-kind services far greater than the funding provided to support the program, thus making parent-community networking centers one of the most cost-effective programs in the department of education. Funding for phases I and II of the parent-community networking center program, however, is inequitable throughout the State. In many schools, parent-community networking center funding is minimal or absent. Through Act 262, Session Laws of Hawaii 2001, the legislature demonstrated its commitment to the parent-community networking center program by increasing the funding appropriation for the biennium. The legislature finds it imperative that the department of education fully expend the funds appropriated by Act 262, specifically for the parent-community networking center program. Even when including the funds from Act 262, however, many of Hawaii's students, parents, and teachers currently are denied the opportunity to have a fully funded parent-community networking center in their schools.

Therefore, the purpose of this Act is to ensure that every public school (with the exception of the particularly small Keanae and Niihau schools) is appropriated $14,500 for a fully funded parent-community networking center for phases I and II (school building level) and to appropriate funds for ten schools statewide for phases II and IV, and parent-community networking center program support initiatives.

Furthermore, the legislature finds there is a strong need for an additional family support resource teacher. This position was cut in 1998 due to budget concerns. With the parent-community networking center program's continued success and expansion, however, the necessity to restore this position exists. Currently, the program has a single resource teacher whose duties include investigating advanced phases of parent-community networking center implementation, program planning and the training of parent facilitators, coordinating the parent empowerment initiative, the Volunteers In Service to America "I Can Read" tutoring program, the parent project for parents of children already in crisis, and training parents in parent-community networking center initiatives.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,315,600, or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2002-2003, for parent-community networking centers, to be expended as follows:

(1) $425,600 to fund thirty-eight schools that are currently funded at $3,300 each, with an additional $11,200 in order to bring them up to the basic funding level of $14,500 for fully funded parent-community networking centers at phases I and II;

(2) $551,000 to fund thirty-eight currently unfunded schools at $14,500 each (not including Keanae and Niihau schools);

(3) $122,000 to fund ten additional elementary schools statewide for phases III and IV at $12,200 each;

(4) $122,000 for ten intermediate/middle schools statewide for phases III and IV at $12,200 each;

(5) $45,000 to establish a twelve-month family support/parent-community networking center resource teacher position for program and staff development, with duties primarily assigned to schools; and

(6) $50,000 for program research and development including parent curriculum development, standards for parents and partners in education, evaluation tools, data collection, and analysis of data in program effectiveness and student achievement.

SECTION 3. The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2002.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________