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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2590 |
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TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE, 2010 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO EDUCATION.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the department of education is considering closing certain non-charter public schools due to departmental financial constraints. At the same time, some public charter schools face daunting obstacles such as the high cost of rent and less-than-desirable location of their facilities. The purpose of this Act is to require the department of education to incorporate into its school-closing process an opportunity for public charter schools to relocate into the facilities formerly occupied by any non-charter public school that is being closed, or allowing such facilities to be used for educational purposes, if no charter school requests such use or if no charter school is an appropriate candidate for such use.
SECTION 2. Chapter 302B, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"§302B‑ Occupancy and use of facilities of public schools. (a) When the department considers whether to close any particular public school that is not a charter school, it shall simultaneously give reasonable consideration to making all or portions of the facilities of the public school, if closed, available for occupancy and use by a charter school. The department shall submit a notice of a possible opportunity of availability of the public school to the charter school review panel.
(b) The charter school review panel shall thereafter solicit applications from charter schools interested in using and occupying all or portions of the facilities of the public school, if closed, by:
(1) Promptly notifying all charter schools that the public school is being considered for closure;
(2) Affording each charter school an opportunity to submit a written explanation and justification of why the charter school should be considered for possible occupancy and use of the facilities of the public school if it is closed;
(3) Fully considering the charter school's submission materials; and
(4) Providing a written response to each charter school's submission after the submission has been fully considered.
(c) Based on the submission materials and on other considerations, the charter school review panel shall compile a prioritized list of charter schools and submit the list to the department for final determination of which, if any, charter school shall be authorized to use and occupy the public school facilities.
(d) If, after giving the charter school review panel the notice in subsection (a), the charter school review panel does not provide a prioritized list of charter schools because no charter school has requested to use the facilities of the public school or the department receives the prioritized list but determines that no charter school on the list is an appropriate candidate to occupy and use the facilities, then the department shall give reasonable consideration into making all or portions of the facilities of the public school, if closed, available for occupancy and use for other educational purposes. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 to create a priority list for evaluating the order in which the facilities of the public school may be offered for use and occupancy for other educational purposes, and the criteria to be used by the department for evaluating an appropriate use for the facilities.
(e) For purposes of this section:
"Public school" means any school that falls within the definition of public schools in section 302A-101, except for charter schools."
SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Report Title:
Education; Facilities; Charter Schools; Educational Purposes
Description:
Requires the department of education to consider making public school facilities available to charter schools, when public schools are closed. Requires the charter school review panel to compile a prioritized list of charter schools who wish to use and occupy the facilities. Provides that, if no charter school requests such use or no charter school is appropriate, then the department of education shall consider making the public school facilities available for other educational purposes. Requires the department to adopt rules to determine a priority list and criteria to evaluate use for other educational purposes. (SD1)
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