Appropriates general revenues to provide minimal start-up funds to establish Parent-Community Networking Center programs and to further enhance existing networking centers.

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO PARENT-COMMUNITY NETWORKING CENTER PROGRAMS.

Phases I and II begin with the establishment of a networking center at the school-building level. A part-time facilitator for the networking center offers parents, students, and the community opportunities to relate with one another, heighten the awareness of their strengths and needs, and learn from, and support each other. This creates an over-all sense of `ohana conducive to learning.

Phases III and IV focus on strengthening each classroom unit as a learning community where teachers and parents form meaningful partnerships to ensure both the students' well-being as well as the achievement of performance standards.

Evaluative reports indicate that the one hundred fifty-seven networking centers funded at $14,532 per school, for phases I and II, have improved school-community relations, instilled positive attitudinal changes among teachers and parents, and increased the numbers of parents involved in the education of Hawaii's youth.

Funding for phases I and II, however, has been disproportionate throughout the State. In many public schools, networking center funding is dismal or nonexistent. Both Maui and Kauai districts have no district coordinators. Eight schools on Maui and Kauai each received $14,532 for fiscal year 1999-2000 only. Forty-five other schools each receive only $3,300 per year. The remaining forty schools have no funding at all.

The legislature also finds that several phase II networking centers are ready to move into phases III and IV. At phases this stage, teacher-parent partnerships are forged at the classroom level by the teacher and volunteer-room parent liaison. To establish the infrastructure and to begin the process of moving forward to phases III and IV, the state-level family support services/Parent-Community Networking Center office identified a mature networking center site at Kapunahala elementary. It has collaborated with the principal and the school's family focus group and has expanded the networking center staff in fiscal year 1997-1998 with another part-time temporary teacher position (room parent liaison coordinator) at the cost of $11,232 per year. The fulfillment of teacher-parent partnerships at the classroom level, along with a highly supportive sense of community at the school-building level, has resulted in higher student achievement, as indicated by a longitudinal report of student SAT scores.

The legislature further finds that teacher-parent partnerships generated at the classroom/family level (phases III and IV) nested in a larger school/neighborhood system of support (phases I and II) are critical in enhancing the personal and social development of students and in helping them attain performance standards. Having established strong networking centers at the school-building level (phases I and II), several elementary and middle schools are now ready to move on to phases III and IV.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Provide funding to schools without networking centers;

SECTION 2. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,328,332 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002 to fully maximize the establishment of networking centers in an equitable manner and to further develop existing networking centers as follows:

SECTION 3. The sums appropriated shall be expended by the department of education for the purposes of this Act.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2001.