CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. 125

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: S.B. No. 17

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

C.D. 1

Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 17, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure, as received by your Committee, is to advance the cut-off date for entrance into kindergarten to age five by September 1 of the school year, beginning with the 2007-2008 school year, and to make kindergarten attendance mandatory.

Your Committee finds that only two states, Hawaii and Maryland, allow entrance into kindergarten to children who achieve age five by December 31 of the school year. Your Committee further finds that this creates a kindergarten cohort where early born students are developmentally more advanced and ready to learn than their younger classmates. Thus, those who are younger often struggle and fall behind, needing remedial services as they advance into the first grade and possibly throughout their educational experience. Your Committee on Conference believes that advancing the age for entry into kindergarten will not only provide a more inclusive educational experience for students, but will provide kindergarten teachers with a more homogeneous cohort of students who are more likely to learn and succeed.

Your Committee on Conference recognizes the concerns expressed about the need for educational programs for those "gap group" children who will no longer be eligible for kindergarten, and agrees that the State should assist in this regard. However, since the change in the age cut-off will not take effect for several years, your Committee on Conference will defer to the DOE for further information before making a decision regarding mandatory kindergarten or pre-kindergarten services.

After careful consideration and discussion, your Committee on Conference has amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting mandatory attendance for kindergarten;

(2) Authorizing the DOE to assess readiness of children for kindergarten, and provide an exception in the case of a child who is found ready for kindergarten;

(3) Providing that beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, children will need to attain the age of five year on or before August 1 of the school year;

(4) Providing that beginning with the 2005-2006 school year, for children who attain the age of five on August 2 or before January 1 of the school year, the DOE shall offer appropriate educational programs, including junior kindergartens or pre-kindergartens, as determined by the DOE based upon the need of the children not eligible to attend kindergarten;

(5) Authorizing the DOE to accept gifts and donations for pre-kindergarten programs, and to offer available space for public or privately-operated pre-kindergartens;

(6) Authorizing the DOE to the extent practicable and within available resources, to allow a child to attend a public or privately-operated pre-kindergarten at an elementary school within their home school complex, if such programs are not available at their home elementary school;

(7) Repealing section 302A-1131, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), which contains similar provisions contained in section 302A-411, HRS;

(8) Requesting the DOE to study and submit to the Legislature a report on the programmatic and fiscal impacts of changing the entrance age for kindergarten to August 1 and providing appropriate educational services to those children not eligible for kindergarten services once the cut-off age is advanced to August 1;

(9) Requesting the DOE to reallocate to pre-kindergarten services any cost-savings from changing the entrance age for kindergarten, and requesting the superintendent to submit to the Legislature a report of such estimated cost-savings; and

(10) Changing the effective date to upon its approval.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 17, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 17, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ ROY TAKUMI, Co-Chair		____________________________ NORMAN SAKAMOTO, Chair
____________________________ JON RIKI KARAMATSU, Co-Chair		____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Co-Chair