RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, parent teacher associations and similar organizations play a critical role in assisting public schools in functioning effectively by ensuring primary stakeholders in schools work together collaboratively; and

WHEREAS, through a variety of activities, parent teacher associations and similar organizations support the achievement of academic and financial goals of schools; and

WHEREAS, in the past, teachers and other employees of the Department of Education have participated in such organizations and have made valuable contributions in discussions, policy development, and other areas of need; and

WHEREAS, recently, the Department of Education has adopted a policy that prohibits a Department of Education employee from participating as an officer of a parent teacher associations or similar organization; and

WHEREAS, this policy has resulted in many Department of Education employees not participating at all in any activities or proceedings of parent teacher associations or similar organizations; and

WHEREAS, although the reasoning for adopting such a policy is to hold the Department of Education harmless for wilful acts of Department of Education employees, this policy seems to have a deleterious effect on Department of Education employee participation in parent teacher associations and similar organization activities; and

WHEREAS, without Department of Education employee participation in parent teacher associations or similar organization activities, the usefulness of these processes is diminished significantly; and

WHEREAS, in the end, it is not only the school that suffers, but the students as well; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Board of Education is requested to establish a policy that encourages and allows Department of Education employees to participate in parent teacher association activities or related activities, including those designed to support extra-curricular activities at schools, such as booster clubs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department is requested to include in the policy procedures to ensure that the Department of Education and the State shall not be liable for wilful acts of Department of Education employees while participating in these activities and to clarify or delineate the extent to which these types of activities fall within the course and scope of the employees' regular duties; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education requested to submit a report to the Legislature not later than twenty days prior to the convening of the 2006 Regular Session on the policy it is requested to establish under this Concurrent Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature requests that the report include but not be limited to:

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Board of Education may request the assistance of the Attorney General in developing the policy required under this Concurrent Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Attorney General is requested to comply with any request made by the Board of Education to effectuate the policy requested under this Concurrent Resolution; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Education, the Attorney General, the Hawaii State Parents, Teachers, and Students Association, the Hawaii State Teachers Association, and the Hawaii Government Employees Association.

Report Title:

Education; Parent Teacher Association Activities