HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	257
TWENTY-FOURTH LEGISLATURE, 2008
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING the department of education to include a west maui school in ITS pilot program TO REDUCE heat DISCOMFORT IN CLASSROOMS.

     WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that the stifling heat in school classrooms is not conducive to learning; and

     WHEREAS, an independent study tracking the average daily temperatures of classrooms in Lahaina schools showed that, despite the Department of Education's new heat matrix standards, Lahaina schools actually have the second hottest classrooms in the State; and

     WHEREAS, in addition, Lahaina schools are subjected to the diesel fumes of tour buses parked near Lahaina Harbor and to dust, noise, and smoke from traffic on the overly congested roadways near the schools; and

     WHEREAS, in the hottest months of September and October, doctors have found that student illnesses are usually heat-related in origin and that these medical incidents take students away from the classroom; and

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education estimates that at the current rate of $5,300,000 per fiscal year as appropriated for heat and noise abatement, it will take about one hundred forty years to complete the air conditioning at all public schools; and

     WHEREAS, West Maui public schools are in urgent need of immediate heat abatement and both the community and the parents are willing to partner with the Department of Education to help implement and fund these measures; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-fourth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2008, the Senate concurring, that the Legislature requests the Department of Education to include one of the West Maui schools in its pilot program to examine and implement measures for reducing discomfort in public school classrooms; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Superintendent of Education, the Chairperson of the Board of Education, and the Principals of Lahainaluna High School, Princess Nahienaena School, Lahaina Intermediate School, and King Kamehameha III Elementary School, respectively.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title: 

Request for the Department of Education to include a West Maui school in its pilot program to reduce heat discomfort in classrooms.