STAND. COM. REP. NO. 823

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 833

       S.D. 1

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 833 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to clarify the public charter school financial solvency and closure protocols.

     Specifically, this measure:

(1)  Specifies that a public charter school's financial insolvency is deemed to be a voluntary surrender of the school's charter; and

(2)  Grants the authorizer the sole discretion to determine:

(A)  Whether health and safety issues require school closure; and

(B)  Whether to keep the school open to students and personnel for a set period of time.

     Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the State Public Charter School Commission.

     Your Committee finds that reforms to the current law are necessary because the current law does not adequately address the scenario in which a public charter school continues operations despite its financial insolvency.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1)  Incorporating the contents of S.B. No. 832, which allows a public charter school student who has been notified of the prospect of charter revocation or nonrenewal, or of school closure, to enroll in a school outside of the student's service area; and

(2)  Removing the word "voluntarily" from the provision regarding surrender of a charter due to financial insolvency to clarify that surrender in this circumstance will be mandated by law, rather than by a voluntary act of the charter school.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 833, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 833, S.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair