STAND

STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1642

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: H.C.R. No. 18

H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.C.R. No. 18 entitled:

"HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, BOARD OF EDUCATION, AND HAWAII ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TO CONSIDER POLICIES THAT PERMIT EDIBLE SCHOOL GARDENS AND INTEGRATE THEM INTO SCHOOL CURRICULUMS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this concurrent resolution is to promote healthy eating habits and related cultural, environmental, and conservation education by requesting the Department of Education (DOE), Board of Education (BOE), and Hawaii Association of Independent Schools (HAIS) to consider policies that permit edible school gardens and integrate them into school curriculums.

HAIS and several concerned individuals testified in support of this concurrent resolution. DOE and the Hawaii State Teachers Association supported the intent of this measure.

Your Committee has amended this concurrent resolution by:

(1) Amending the purpose of the measure to encourage DOE, BOE, and HAIS to evaluate the liability of and consider policies that would allow the School Community Councils the choice of establishing an edible garden program at their schools in the spirit of Act 51;

(2) Recognizing the need for Hawaii to embrace sustainability, and the role that edible school gardens can play in promoting sustainability;

(3) Urging DOE to request the cooperation and support of the Department of Agriculture and the University of Hawaii College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style, including changing its title to read: "ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, BOARD OF EDUCATION, AND HAWAII ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS TO EVALUATE THE LIABILITY OF AND CONSIDER POLICIES THAT WOULD ALLOW THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY COUNCILS THE CHOICE OF ESTABLISHING AN EDIBLE GARDEN PROGRAM AT THEIR SCHOOLS IN THE SPIRIT OF ACT 51."

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of H.C.R. No. 18, as amended herein, and recommends its adoption in the form attached hereto as H.C.R. No. 18, H.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

		____________________________ ROY TAKUMI, Chair