STAND. COM. REP. 3425

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2004

RE: S.R. No. 47

 

 

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations, to which was referred S.R. No. 47 entitled:

"SENATE RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION TO ESTABLISH A TASK FORCE TO ADDRESS PROBLEMS FACED BY MILITARY IMPACTED SCHOOLS,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to request the Superintendent of Education to establish a task force to address problems faced by military impacted schools.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, and a public school principal.

The composition of the task force would include, but not be limited to, principals and vice-principals of each military impacted school, representatives of teachers, Parent Community Networking Centers, or school/community based management groups of each military impacted school, representatives of the transition centers in the Radford Complex schools, and representatives of the commanding officers of military installations.

Your Committees find that reallocation of public school teachers and administrative staff, resulting from annual changes in student enrollment, has resulted in disruptions in military impacted schools. Because staffing allocations are set on "count day," the possible gain or loss of teaching and administrative staff is problematic, causing students to move to new classes, or to different existing classes, which have negatively affected the learning process.

Your Committees further find that normal transfers, reassignments, and deployments of substantial military personnel stationed in Hawaii have also caused disruptions in military impacted schools. All of this movement affects students of military families and their nonmilitary classmates.

This measure seeks to address these problem by requesting the Superintendent of Education to form a task force with a mandate to consider specified measures and to report to the Legislature on findings and recommendations before the 2005 Regular Session.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees concur with the intent and purpose of S.R. No. 47 and recommend its adoption.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations,

____________________________

CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair