STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1510

                                   Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                     , 1999

                                   RE:  H.B. No. 1088
                                        H.D. 2
                                        S.D. 2




Honorable Norman Mizuguchi
President of the Senate
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 1999
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B.
No. 1088, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL ATTENDANCE,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to determine the ages at which
children may enter kindergarten and public school.

     Specifically, this bill:

     (1)  Specifies that the minimum ages required for attending
          kindergarten and grade school be five and six years of
          age, respectively, on the first day of the school year
          as determined by the Board of Education, or unless the
          child meets readiness standards specifically determined
          by the board;

     (2)  Requires the Board of Education to submit a proposed
          implementation plan twenty days prior to the convening
          of the Regular Session of 2000 that includes a parent
          option to request a screening to determine a child's
          readiness;

     (3)  Requires that the screening assessments for readiness
          be free of charge; and

 
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     (4)  Requires that the Department of Education transfer any
          funds that become available due to any lag of the
          number of students entering kindergarten to the
          Department of Human Services for the purposes of
          establishing programs for those children affected by
          the change in entrance age and deemed not ready for
          kindergarten.

     Your Committee finds that attendance at kindergarten and
grade school should be based solely on the readiness of the child
for school.  Kindergarten and grade school are not intended to
provide taxpayer-supported baby-sitting services, and a great
deal of harm can be caused to the self-esteem of a child by
basing early education decisions on any considerations other than
the readiness of the child for school.  Your Committee also finds
that many private schools in Hawaii already retain a child for
one school year if the child is born late in the calendar year in
order to allow the child to mature more naturally.  Some private
schools even go so far as to prescribe different cut-off dates
for boys and girls to enter school.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by changing the effective date from July 1, 2001 to upon
approval.  In addition, your Committee has amended sections 1 and
2 of the bill, which amend sections 302A-411, and 302A-1131,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, respectively, to codify in statutory law
rather than in uncodified session law, the requirement contained
in:

     (1)  The last part of the first paragraph of section 3
          relating to the parent option to request a screening on
          page 2, lines 19 to 22; and

     (2)  The first sentence in the second paragraph of section 2
          prohibiting the Board of Education from charging for
          screening assessments on page 2, line 23.

Your Committee has further made two technical, nonsubstantive
amendments for the purposes of clarity.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your
Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your
Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No.
1088, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it
pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1088,
H.D. 2, S.D. 2.


 
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                                 Respectfully submitted on behalf
                                 of the members of the Committee
                                 on Ways and Means,



                                 ________________________________
                                 CAROL FUKUNAGA, Co-Chair



                                 ________________________________
                                 ANDREW LEVIN, Co-Chair

 
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