Report Title:

School Clerical Staffing; DOE

 

Description:

Appropriates funds to the department of education for 292.00 FTE, temporary, school clerical positions to partially implement the recommendations of the 1990 school and district office clerical staffing study. Requires the department to allocate these temporary positions according to pupil enrollment.

 

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

1578

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

MAKING AN APPROPRIATION FOR ADDITIONAL SCHOOL CLERICAL POSITIONS.

 

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

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that local, systemwide educational initiatives such as:

(1) School/community-based management, which attempts to bring schools closer to their communities by localizing the governance structure of the schools; and

(2) Restructuring (formerly Ke Au Hou), which attempts to bring the department of education closer to its schools by decentralizing state and district personnel and program resources;

have substantially increased the amount of administrative, technical, professional, and paraprofessional work that must be performed by school personnel. This increase, in turn, has greatly increased the amount of clerical support needed to operate the schools in an efficient and effective manner.

The legislature also finds that federal laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act have increased the amount of clerical support needed to assist school personnel who service exceptional children with disabilities and qualified students with disabilities, respectively. The procedural and documentary requirements imposed by these laws, as well as the time limits for their completion, place heavy demands on available clerical personnel. In most cases, however, school personnel who service these students must devote a substantial percentage of their time to routine clerical work since clerical support is either unavailable or insufficient to meet demands.

The legislature further finds that ongoing local educational initiatives such as school-based budgeting, which attempts to improve learning by giving schools greater control over their discretionary spending, have increased the amount of accounting work performed by schools' clerical personnel. In addition to handling large sums of money, these clerical personnel must account for the expenditure and receipt of state, federal, and student funds by program and function to meet specific reporting requirements. The complexity of the school budget--with its many separate accounts and different reporting requirements--requires the full and undivided attention of clerical personnel to prevent the accidental misuse of these funds.

The department of education's 1990 school and district office clerical staffing study concluded that an additional 429.50 full-time equivalent clerical positions would be needed to bring all schools into compliance with the recommended school clerical staffing standards. The study also concluded that 159.50 full-time equivalent clerical positions would be needed to bring all schools into compliance with the recommended priority staffing guidelines. The priority guidelines were established in recognition of the belief that creating an additional 429.50 full-time equivalent clerical positions was neither reasonable nor attainable at the time.

Since the foregoing numbers were based on enrollment figures and the number of schools in 1990, it was understood that they would be subject to immediate and constant change. The recommended school clerical staffing standards and priority staffing guidelines, however, are still valid and can be used to determine the number of additional clerical positions needed to bring all schools into compliance with the recommended staffing standards and priority guidelines. If the department of education's clerical shortage is not alleviated in the near future, then problems relating to employee morale; the recruitment and retention of clerical personnel; and the effective and efficient utilization of administrative, technical, professional, and paraprofessional school-level personnel, will only worsen with time.

The purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the department of education for 292.00 full-time equivalent, temporary, school clerical positions to partially implement the recommendations of the 1990 school and district office clerical staffing study. This figure represents the number of clerk positions needed to bring all schools into compliance with the recommended staffing standards for clerks, based on projected enrollment figures for 1997. This figure does not include the number of clerk typist and account clerk positions needed to bring all schools into compliance with the recommended staffing standards for those positions.

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $        , or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002, for two hundred ninety-two full-time equivalent (292.00 FTE), temporary, school clerical positions to partially implement the recommendations of the 1990 school and district office clerical staffing study; provided that the department of education shall allocate these temporary positions according to pupil enrollment.

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, 2001.

INTRODUCED BY:

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