STAND. COM. REP. 454

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 335

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 335 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to require that a child entering kindergarten at a public school be at least five years old on or before:

(1) October 1st of the school year beginning with the 2006-2007 school year; and

(2) July 1st of the school year beginning with the 2007-2008 school year.

This bill also requires that any savings realized due to the changes in the admission age of kindergarten students be transferred to the Department of Human Services (DHS) for the Open Doors Program.

The Hawaii State Parent, Teacher, Student Association submitted testimony in support of this bill. An individual submitted testimony in support of this bill with amendments. The Department of Education and DHS submitted testimony in support of the intent of this bill. The Hawaii Association for the Education of Young Children submitted testimony in opposition to this bill. The Hawaii State Teachers Association and Good Beginnings Alliance submitted comments on this bill.

Your Committee finds that the current cutoff date by which entering kindergarten students in public schools must be five years old is too late. Studies of brain development show that children who start kindergarten at too young an age will often suffer in school relative to their peers. This bill will bring the age of kindergarten students in Hawaii in better alignment with accepted standards.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Making kindergarten attendance mandatory;

(2) Requiring students to be five years old by September 1st of the year in which they enter kindergarten beginning with the 2007-2008 school year; and

(2) Deleting the requirement that savings be used for the Open Doors Program.

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. 335, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 335, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

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

 

____________________________

ROY M. TAKUMI, Chair