STAND. COM. REP. NO. 322

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 836

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committees on Education and Government Operations, to which was referred S.B. No. 836 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to provide a framework for funding and support of public charter schools facilities through adequate prioritization.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the State Public Charter School Commission, Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Hawaii Public Charter Schools Network, and Hawaii Island School Garden Network.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Budget and Finance.

 

     Your Committees find that facilities funding is the greatest concern for Hawaii public charter schools, and a major hurdle for programs that offer before- and after- school child care, also known as pre-plus programs.  Due to the high cost of facilities in the State, an innovative approach is necessary to provide facilities at a reasonable cost to public charter schools and pre-plus programs.  Utilizing vacant state facilities is one way to meet the facilities needs of public charter schools and pre-plus programs while making productive use of vacant state facilities.

 

     Your Committees further find that vacant state facilities may yield to redevelopment for mixed-use facilities.  One building could house not only a charter school or a pre-plus program, but could also include commercial space, social services, or a cultural attraction within the same facility.  This concept aligns with Act 155, Session Laws of Hawaii (2013), which envisions twenty-first century schools as community hubs that are centrally-located with access to other services.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Clarifying that each state department shall notify the Department of Education, State Public Charter School Commission, and Executive Office of Early Learning of unused facilities, and adding the development of twenty-first century schools and mixed-use facilities to the types of appropriate uses of unused facilities;

 

     (2)  Clarifying that the State Public Charter School Commission and Executive Office on Early Learning shall each solicit applications from public charter schools and pre-plus programs, respectively, and the State Public Charter School Commission and Executive Office on Early Learning shall each submit prioritized lists of interested schools and programs to the Department of Education which shall determine which schools or programs, if any, shall be authorized to use and occupy the facilities;

 

     (3)  Deleting all sections related to charter school funding through general bond authorization, including amendments to annual reporting requirements, facilities funding, and all appropriations; and

 

     (4)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 836, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 836, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 


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

 

____________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

 

____________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair