HR267

WHEREAS, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate has established a great legacy of achievement in education that was recently demonstrated in 2004 when 100% of the 437 graduates that year were accepted to two– and four–year colleges nationwide; and

WHEREAS, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate's mission is to "create educational opportunities in perpetuity to improve the capability and well-being of people of Hawaiian ancestry"; and

WHEREAS, the Waianae coast has the largest concentration of Native Hawaiians in the state; and

WHEREAS, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate subsidizes a significant portion of the cost to educate every student, making it an affordable option for students; and

WHEREAS, many parents and students attending schools on the Waianae Coast are searching for more choice of where they receive their education; and

WHEREAS, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate have striven to accommodate students from great distances by establishing campuses on Maui and Hawaii that serve 1,950 students attending Kindergarten through grade 11; and

WHEREAS, Kamehameha School students from the Waianae Coast have the longest commute than any other students from any other area of the island of Oahu to Kamehameha Schools; and

WHEREAS, Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate can help accommodate students and potential students from the Waianae coast by establishing a Leeward campus; and

WHEREAS, the establishment of a Leeward Campus of the Kamehameha schools will help give parents and students searching for a better education, and help Kamehameha reach more Hawaiian students through assisting the schools in its vision of helping "people of Hawaiian ancestry to achieve their highest potential as 'good and industrious men and women'"; and

WHEREAS, the establishment of a Leeward Campus of the Kamehameha Schools will help current students from the Waianae Coast who must spend hours and resources commuting to and from the school; and

WHEREAS, the establishment of a Leeward Campus of the Kamehameha schools will continue the schools' investment on the Waianae Coast, which has recently included spending about $3.9 million towards the construction of family learning center and transitional housing along the coast; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2007, that Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate is encouraged to explore the option of opening a Leeward campus on a location along the Waianae coast; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Board of Trustees of Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate; Leeward Coast campus

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	267
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2007
STATE OF HAWAII