Report Title:

DOE Complex areas; complex area councils

Description:

Requires the Superintendent of Education to create complex areas and councils for each complex area. (HB289 HD2)

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

289

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

H.D. 2

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. Appointed councils serving various parts of the State and acting in concert with the decentralized administration 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.

DOE 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 or mandates in this area.

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

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

(2) Establish complex area school councils appointed by the board of education.

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

"[[]§302A-1102[]] Department of education; [statewide and regional] administrative services[.]; complex area school councils; composition, operation, and duties of councils. (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 shall:

(1) Organize the department into complex areas consisting of multiple school complexes; and

(2) 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 shall establish complex area school councils to serve regions to be determined by the superintendent; provided that there shall be the same number of complex area school councils as complex areas.

(d) Each complex area school council shall be composed of seven members appointed by the board of education. There shall be at least one student, one parent, and one teacher serving as members of each complex area school council. The board of education shall establish rules regarding:

(1) The nomination of members for the councils; and

(2) The operation and scope of the councils.

(e) The complex area school councils shall:

(1) Conduct community meetings to inform the public and receive public input regarding matters before the councils;

(2) Coordinate with and receive input from teachers, administrators, students, and other educational stakeholders regarding matters before the councils;

(3) Perform informal assessments of complex area superintendents to be forwarded to the superintendent of education;

(4) Determine a priority list of capital improvement projects within each complex area to be forwarded to the board of education for evaluation and inclusion in the department's budget request;

(5) Prioritize repair and maintenance projects and expend aggregated discretionary funds for repair and maintenance allocated to schools within each complex area;

(6) Manage block grants or other funding provided for schools within each complex area;

(7) Gather and coordinate input from professionals within school complexes to assist in implementing educational reforms to ensure that curricula are coherent and sequential within and among schools in each school complex;

(8) Select a common yearly, weekly, and daily schedule, as practicable, for schools within each school complex;

(9) Purchase bulk supplies and equipment for schools within each complex area; and

(10) Perform any other duties as determined by the board of education."

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.