STAND. COM. REP. NO. 89

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1179

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1179 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funds for non-school hour programs for school-age children.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Education, the Hawaii Youth Services Network, and the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii.  Testimony in opposition to the measure was submitted by the Office of Youth Services.

 

     Your Committee finds that in the United States, nearly two-thirds of school-age children are from families where both parents work outside of the home.  As a result, many school-age children are left unattended or without some type of formal non-school hour care program in which to participate.  Your Committee further finds that structured programs and activities during non-school hours for school-age children help to reduce the risk of delinquency and behavioral problems and establish a safe and nurturing environment for school-age children. 

 

     The Department of Education administers the A+ program, which provides non-school hour care to children enrolled in Hawaii public elementary schools in grades kindergarten through six.  Currently, Hawaii is the only state that makes non-school hour child care universally available to all children enrolled in public elementary schools and partially subsidizes its cost to parents.   However, no similar program exists for older children who require care and supervision.

 

     Your Committee believes in the importance of caring for our youth and protecting them from the dangers of juvenile crime, drug use, and experimentation with tobacco, alcohol, and sex, during non-school hours.  The establishment of non-school hour programs for children in grades kindergarten through twelve will provide for the safety of our children and help to reduce juvenile crime, improve school performance, and provide our children with structured non-school learning experiences.  Your Committee also believes that a non-school hour activities program coordinator could ensure that all students have access to quality non-school hour programs through the coordination of all non-school hour activities.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Including an appropriation for a non-school hour activities program coordinator to coordinate all non-school hour activities; and

 

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of clarity and style.

 

     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 S.B. No. 1179, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1179, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

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

 

 

 

____________________________

NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair