Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 525, S.D. 1, entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to require school principals to recover replacement fees and other fines for lost, damaged, or destroyed textbooks, and to require these fees and fines to remain at the school level.

In addition, this measure exempts the fund created for special fees and charges collected from pupils who negligently break, damage, lose, or destroy school books, equipment, or supplies from being assessed for central service and departmental administrative expenses.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education and the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

According to the Board of Education, sixty-three middle and high schools reported needing an additional 134,274 textbooks to meet their requirements. Assuming the average cost of a secondary school textbook to be $40 to $45, the cost of replacing these 134,274 middle and high school textbooks would be $5,370,960 to $6,042,330 in 1999 dollars. Your Committee intends to cut into this accumulated loss at the individual level by giving school principals the tools they need to hold pupils financially accountable for the textbooks they lose, damage, or destroy.

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 S.B. No. 525, S.D. 1, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.