SB2969 SD1 SSCR2401

STAND. COM. REP. NO.2401

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2002

RE: S.B. No. 2969

S.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Education and Health and Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 2969 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to improve accountability, performance, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Department of Education and its services for children with a disability.

Testimony supporting and opposing various parts of this measure was received from the Departments of Education and Health. Testimony opposing this measure was received from the State Attorney General.

Your Committees find that recent legislative inquiries into the State's efforts to comply with the Felix consent decree, meet the requirements of federal and state laws, and fulfill the State's commitment to provide all children with a good education have revealed systemic problems. Resolving these issues that affect the effectiveness and efficiency of Hawaii's public education system is of paramount concern. Your Committees find that this measure provides a comprehensive approach to ensuring Hawaii's children who have a disability receive a proper education.

Part I provides that the intent of this measure is to implement structural and procedural changes within the Department of Education to improve efficiency and to ensure that Hawaii's exceptional children receive a quality education.

Part II establishes an Office of Educational Accountability and Performance within the Office of the Legislative Auditor to monitor and evaluate the performance of the State's public education system.

Part III appropriates funds for the employment of three internal auditors and two support staff for the Department of Education whose function is to ensure fiscal accountability, improve the internal financial controls, and improve responsiveness to fiscal problems within the Department of Education.

Part IV allows the Department of Education to appoint and retain its own attorneys.

Part V requires:

(1) The Department of Education to maintain longitudinal data on students, and store and warehouse the data in a manner that allows for efficient, comprehensive, and complex analysis;

(2) The Departments of Education, Health, and Human Services to establish an integrated information management system that shall provide for the interdepartmental sharing and exchange of student records;

(3) The Department of Education to map a listing of all department resources and services and to publish the map in an accessible format and on the Internet; and

(4) The Department of Education to ensure that the department receives and collects all federal funds and reimbursements, including Medicaid reimbursements.

Part VI appropriates funds for school design, improvements, and equipment to accommodate school-based health services for students including the medically fragile.

Part VII requires the Department of Education to obtain approval from the Governor to increase the federal fund expenditure ceiling to expend federal funds received in excess of the amounts appropriated by the Legislature and to report to the Legislature immediately regarding the increase.

Part VIII provides that educational officers and teachers shall not be held liable for claims relating to the provision of services to exceptional children or members of the plaintiff class under the Felix consent decree.

Part IX requires that when a proposal or contract for the procurement of services specifies academic degree requirements, the proposal or contract shall specify that the academic degree shall be issued by a college or university accredited by an accrediting agency recognized by the United States Secretary of Education.

Part X clarifies that the children's mental health services branch of the Department of Health shall not restrict services to students belonging to a specific class, such as the Felix class.

Part XI provides that this measure shall take effect upon approval except for Parts II, III, VII, and VIII which shall take effect on July 1, 2002.

Your Committees have amended this measure by amending:

(1) Part I by substituting the term "exceptional children" with the words "children with a disability";

(2) Part II by:

(a) Placing the Office of Educational Accountability and Performance within the Board of Education; and

(b) Providing that the executive director shall consult with the Department of Health to establish the guidelines, criteria, and procedures for selecting the four medical and health specialists for the special education advisory board;

(3) Part VII by:

(a) Further clarifying that the Department of Education needs the approval of the Governor prior to increasing the federal fund expenditure ceiling of a program identification number; and

(b) Providing that the Governor may not approve increases to federal fund expenditure ceilings in amounts greater than the excess federal funds received by the Department of Education;

(4) Part VIII by:

(a) Replacing the term "exceptional children" throughout chapter 302A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, with the term "children with a disability" and a more appropriate definition in response to the sensitivity concerns raised by the testimony of the Disability and Communication Access Board. Your Committees, however, understand that the definition provided by this measure should undergo further scrutiny during the legislative process to ensure consistency with applicable federal and state laws;

(b) Affording "classified personnel" the same limited liability provided to educational officers and teachers by this measure;

(c) Defining "classified personnel" as persons who provide direct educational assistance to students under the direction of a teacher or provide professional services to children with a disability;

(d) Specifying that suits against educational officers, classified personnel, or teachers may only be brought against the departments of education and health, except for suits claiming gross negligence; and

(e) Clarifying that the limited liability applies to educational officers, classified personnel, and teachers who provide services to children with a disability and members of the plaintiff class under the Felix consent decree; and

(5) Part X by adding a purpose section for Part X to clarify that the intent is not to expand the class of children that must be serviced by the Department of Health, but to clarify and emphasize that the department has a duty to service the mental health of all students regardless of whether or not they are members of the Felix class.

Your Committees further amended this measure by making technical, nonsubstantive changes for purposes of style and clarity.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Health and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2969, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2969, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Health and Human Services,

____________________________ DAVID MATSUURA, Chair		____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair