Honorable Robert Bunda

President of the Senate

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2004

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2115 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to appropriate funding for an athletic health care trainer specialist coordinator in the Department of Education.

Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Athletic Directors and Coaches Association, Department of Education Athletic Health Care Trainers, and athletic director of Hilo High School. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to the measure from the Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that athletic health care trainers could greatly benefit from having a full-time position dedicated to providing them with technical assistance, professional advice, and administrative guidance. This would facilitate the standardization of protocols for data collection on the quality of care for student athletes, analysis of injury and prevention for student athletes, staff development and training, budgeting and finance matters, personnel issues, and recruitment of future athletic health care trainers. At present, there are no exact courses of action for these unique problems.

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. 2115 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.