STAND. COM. REP. NO. 316

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 688

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2017

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 688 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOLS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit persons from interfering with or disrupting the orderly operation, safety, or peaceful conduct of a school or school-related activity.

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Teachers Association and IMUAlliance.  Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Police Department of the City and County of Honolulu and American Civil Liberties Union of Hawaii.

     Your Committee finds that a secure learning environment is vital to the safety of Hawaii's students.  Your Committee further finds that dangerous criminal activity near schools, including solicitation of drugs and the illicit trafficking of children, is a significant problem in some areas of the State.  This measure will empower schools to more effectively protect their students from potentially dangerous persons near the schools. 

     Your Committee additionally finds that this measure should not be construed to prohibit any activities that are protected under the Constitution of the United States.

     As such, your Committee has amended this measure by adding language clarifying that activities that are protected under the Constitution of the United States are not prohibited.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 688, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 688, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary and Labor.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair