Report Title:

DOE Complex areas; advisory boards

Description:

Authorizes the Superintendent of Education to create complex areas and advisory boards for each complex area. (HB289 HD1)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

289

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to education.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's public education system, while improving, must find additional ways to enhance its performance. As the federal No Child Left Behind Act increasingly requires the nation's public schools to operate more effectively, the State must find ways to better use the resources at its disposal.

Currently, all aspects of public education in Hawaii are controlled at the state level by the board of education and the department of education (DOE). While centralizing services does provide certain advantages and enhances efficiency in many ways, a high-quality educational system must be built from the ground up. Schools must be able to receive certain services in a timely fashion without having to obtain the approval of the state administration. Additionally, schools in certain areas have needs that are common to those areas that could be handled more effectively by regional administration.

Decentralizing certain aspects of educational governance would allow the State to continue to enjoy the benefits of a strong statewide system while improving DOE's ability to provide timely services to individual schools and complexes. Advisory boards serving various parts of the State, acting in concert with the decentralized administration, and reporting to the superintendent would also be of significant benefit to DOE. This cooperative effort would allow for better planning, policy-making, and program implementation both at the state level and at the school level.

The department of education currently has the authority to decentralize administrative support for fiscal, personnel, and procurement services. This type of structural change can play a significant role in developing the public school system, if implemented conscientiously. However, the current statute does not provide the superintendent with clear enough authority in this area.

Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to authorize the superintendent of education to:

(1) Decentralize administrative authority to complex areas encompassing multiple school complexes; and

(2) Establish advisory boards appointed by the board of education, each of which will serve a single complex area and report to the superintendent.

SECTION 2. Section 302A-1102, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"[[]§302A-1102[]] Department of education; [statewide and regional] administrative services[.]; advisory boards. (a) The department shall serve as the central support system responsible for the overall administration of statewide educational policy, interpretation, and development of standards for compliance with state and federal laws, and coordination and preparation of a systemwide budget for the public schools.

(b) The [department may establish regional administrative units] superintendent may organize the department into complex areas consisting of multiple school complexes, and establish administrative units to provide administrative support to the schools for personnel, fiscal, and procurement services. The [regional] administrative units may also be assigned responsibility for the administration and operation of special education programs and special schools.

(c) The superintendent may establish advisory boards, each of which shall serve a single complex area and report to the superintendent. The board of education shall:

(1) Determine the composition of the advisory boards;

(2) Appoint members to the advisory boards; and

(3) Establish rules governing the scope and operation of the advisory boards."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.