STAND. COM. REP. NO. 973-00

                                 Honolulu, Hawaii
                                                   , 2000

                                 RE: S.B. No. 2996
                                     S.D. 2
                                     H.D. 1




Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twentieth State Legislature
Regular Session of 2000
State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No.
2996, S.D. 2, entitled: 

     "A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO JUVENILES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to require the Family Court to
provide information on a timely basis regarding the adjudication
of a given minor upon written request from the Department of
Education (DOE).  Under the provisions of this bill, upon a
written inquiry by DOE, the Family Court must provide DOE certain
legal records within ten days of the request.

     The DOE and an individual supported this bill.  The Hawaii
State Teachers Association supported the intent of this bill.
The Office of Youth Services, Hawaii Association of Independent
Schools, and the Office of the Public Defender commented on this
bill.  The Judiciary, the Department of the Prosecuting Attorney
of the City and County of Honolulu, and the American Civil
Liberties Union of Hawaii opposed this bill.

     Your Committee finds that providing timely access to the
court records of students for schools would be very helpful to
school administrators.  Full knowledge of a student's
adjudication for serious offenses would allow school officials to
better supervise and provide services to that student.  


 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 973-00
                                 Page 2

 
     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this
bill by deleting its contents and inserting the substantive
provisions of H.B. 2087, H.D. 2.  As amended, the bill provides a
system for the dissemination of legal records related to offenses
committed by a minor to public and private school officials.
Specifically, the bill:

     (1)  Requires the Family Court to notify school officials
          when a minor student has been adjudicated of a felony
          or misdemeanor offense;

     (2)  Provides a system for the dissemination of such
          information to affected public and private school
          faculty members and staff; and 

     (3)  Provides civil penalties for the release of
          confidential material related to student offenses.

     Your Committee finds that these provisions are preferable as
they:

     (1)  Provide access to more information, including
          information that is not already publicly available;

     (2)  Include private schools;

     (3)  More thoroughly delineate the mechanisms by which
          material is to be disseminated; and

     (4)  Require the Family Court to actively contact schools
          regarding student offenses, therefore providing
          information that schools would not otherwise know to
          pursue.

     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.
2996, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass
Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2996, S.D.
2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and
Hawaiian Affairs.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
                                 STAND. COM. REP. NO. 973-00
                                 Page 3

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



                                   ______________________________
                                   KEN ITO, Chair