STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2417

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2610

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2014

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committees on Education and Higher Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2610 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require, by the end of the 2015-2016 school year, that:

     (1)  Every public school, charter school, and the University of Hawaii have one automated external defibrillator (AED) situated in a permanent location on campus;

     (2)  Public schools and charter schools that have athletic trainers, as well as the University of Hawaii, have an additional AED available at every sporting event;

     (3)  Athletic trainers be trained and certified on the use of AEDs; and

     (4)  Public schools and charter schools that do not have athletic trainers have at least two faculty members at every sporting event who are trained and certified on the use of AEDs.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the United Public Workers, AFSCME, Local 646, AFL-CIO; Hawaii Association of Independent Schools; and twenty-two individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Department of Education.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the American Heart Association, AED Institute, Hawaii Athletic Trainers Association, and one individual.

     Your Committees find that AEDs are an important tool in responding to emergency situations.  In addition, your Committees find that AEDs have been used on several occasions over the past few years to save the lives of student athletes, teachers, athletic coaches, and spectators of sporting events.

     Your Committees recognize the concerns raised by the Department of Education as to the fiscal and practical implications this measure will have.  In addition, your Committees note that as middle school athletic programs continue to grow and expand, the implications of this measure and concussion awareness education will need to be examined further.

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

     (1)  Placing the language for all AED-related requirements for public schools, charter schools, and the University of Hawaii in session law rather than codifying these requirements in the Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (2)  Removing language requiring that AEDs be checked for readiness after every use and at least once every thirty days;

     (3)  Inserting an appropriation of $2,200,000 to the Department of Education for the purchase and maintenance of AEDs and for related training;

     (4)  Inserting an appropriation for an unspecified amount to the University of Hawaii for the purchase and maintenance of AEDs and for related training;

     (5)  Establishing a working group consisting of representatives from the Department of Education, University of Hawaii System, and any interested stakeholder groups, and requiring the working group to develop policies, procedures, and best practices related to the use of AEDs, as well as to develop a model school emergency response plan for distribution and implementation at all public schools, charter schools, and University of Hawaii campuses;

     (6)  Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

     (7)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Education and Higher Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2610, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2610, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Education and Higher Education,

____________________________ BRIAN T. TANIGUCHI, Chair

____________________________ JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair