HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

150

TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the office of the auditor to conduct an audit of the office of human resources of the department of education.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, in recent months, the Office of Human Resources of the Department of Education has had to decline requests by schools to investigate complaints, because it lacks adequate staffing; and

 

     WHEREAS, in 2014, 63 Department of Education employees were placed on paid leave because they were being investigated; and

 

     WHEREAS, as of February 2016, the number of Department of Education employees placed on paid leave because of ongoing investigations had decreased to 43, with 12 of these employees having been placed on paid leave for at least a year; and

 

     WHEREAS, employees who are being investigated take the first month of leave without pay; however, due to collective bargaining agreements, employees receive pay for all subsequent months of department-directed leave; and

 

     WHEREAS, of the 43 Department of Education employees currently on paid leave, 28 are teachers, and at least one investigation has been open for a year; and

 

     WHEREAS, such delays place an onerous burden on the taxpaying public, needlessly bloat government bureaucracy, and deprive good employees of their ability to be productive and perform their jobs; and

 

     WHEREAS, the vice chairman of the Board of Education has expressed his desire that such investigations be concluded within six months of the initial filing of the complaint; and

     WHEREAS, both the students who have been victimized by teacher misconduct as well as teachers who have been falsely accused of misconduct deserve a speedy resolution of their cases; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the Senate concurring, that the Office of the Auditor is requested to conduct an audit of the Office of Human Resources of the Department of Education to ascertain the level of staffing necessary to clear the existing backlog of ongoing investigations and avoid the need to pay for costly private investigations; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Auditor is requested to examine current investigation procedures and propose methods by which the amount of time required for investigations can be shortened to a maximum of three months; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of the Auditor is requested to submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature, Governor, Board of Education, and Department of Education no later than 20 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2017; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chairman of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and Acting Auditor.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

 

 

Report Title: 

Department of Education; Office of Human Resources; Audit