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HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES             H.R. NO.              
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
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                     HOUSE  RESOLUTION
  REQUESTING THE GOVERNOR TO APPOINT A BLUE RIBBON TASK FORCE TO
    STUDY AND RECOMMEND WAYS TO REDUCE THE DROP OUT RATES FOR
    ALL PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS.



 1        WHEREAS, a high school "drop out" is defined by the state
 2   Department of Education as an individual who:
 3   
 4        (1)  Was enrolled in school at some time during the
 5             previous school year;
 6   
 7        (2)  Was not enrolled at the beginning of the current
 8             school year; and
 9   
10        (3)  Has not graduated from high school or completed a
11             state- or district-approved educational program;
12   
13   and
14   
15        WHEREAS, the Department furthermore recognizes eleven
16   categories of students who meet the definition of a "drop out"
17   such as:
18   
19        (1)  Fifteen-year-olds who officially withdraw from school
20             for employment and hardship;
21   
22        (2)  Eighteen-year-olds;
23   
24        (3)  Alternative education;
25   
26        (4)  Military;
27   
28        (5)  Excused by family court;
29   
30        (6)  Expelled;
31   
32        (7)  Tutorial program;
33   
34        (8)  Married and official withdrawal;
35   
36        (9)  Moved to mainland but no verification of enrollment;
37   
38       (10)  Registered but no show; and
39   

 
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 1       (11)  No show from one school to another school;
 2   
 3   and
 4   
 5        WHEREAS, over the four-year school year period from 1994-
 6   1995 to 1997-1998, the island of Oahu experienced a slight
 7   upward trend in the drop out rates among public high schools,
 8   from overall drop out rates of 4.86 per cent in school years
 9   1994-1995, 1995-1996, and 1996-1997, to a 4.95 per cent rate in
10   1997-1998; and
11   
12        WHEREAS, the slight upward trend in the drop out rate over
13   the four-year period is reflected in upward trends in the drop
14   out rates among three of the four Oahu departmental school
15   districts, including the Honolulu, Central Oahu, and Windward
16   Oahu districts, the exception being the Leeward Oahu district,
17   which experienced a downward trend in its drop out rate over
18   the same four-year period; and
19   
20        WHEREAS, among the twenty-one public high schools in the
21   four Oahu departmental school districts, upward trends in
22   individual school drop out rates were experienced among ten
23   schools while downward trends were experienced among the other
24   eleven schools; now, therefore,
25   
26        BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the
27   Twentieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session
28   of 2000, that the Governor is respectfully requested to form a
29   blue ribbon task force, composed of members from the
30   educational community, the number and constituency being left
31   to the Governor at his own discretion, to study and recommend
32   ways to reduce the drop out rates for all public high schools;
33   and
34   
35        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Governor is requested to
36   submit the results of the study and its recommendations to the
37   Legislature twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular
38   Session of 2001; and
39   
40        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this
41   Resolution be transmitted to the Governor and the Chairperson
42   of the Board of Education.
43 
44 
45 
46                         OFFERED BY:  ____________________________

 
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