SCR194

WHEREAS, all charter schools in Hawai‘i are chartered by the State Public Charter School Commission under the oversight of the Board of Education and subject to the operating parameters of the Department of Education for facilities and food services; and

WHEREAS, there are two types of charter schools in Hawai‘i: start-up charter schools with no operating facilities and charter schools that were converted from Department of Education schools with facilities; and

WHEREAS, there are thirty-seven charter schools in Hawai‘i, of which over half are committed to Hawaiian epistemology; are community designed and controlled; and reflect, respect, and embrace ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i, ‘ike Hawai‘i, and Hawaiian cultural values, philosophies, and practices; and

WHEREAS, there are nearly twelve thousand charter school students in Hawai‘i, all of whom should have equal access to appropriate facilities and food subsidies, but this is currently not the case; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education assesses the free and reduced lunch applications of all public school students and determined in the 2016 Title I status reports that seventy percent of the student population of Hawaiian charter schools is considered economically disadvantaged and qualifies for federal food subsidies; and

WHEREAS, start-up charter schools have no kitchen facilities, while conversion charter schools may have existing Department of Education kitchen facilities; and

WHEREAS, some charter schools, especially those in rural areas of Hawai‘i, are denied access to National School Lunch Program subsidies because there are no appropriate United States Department of Agriculture certified kitchens besides those existing in Department of Education public schools; and

WHEREAS, since 2000, the inception of start-up charter schools in Hawai‘i, the State Public Charter School Commission has repeatedly requested facilities funding for charter schools; and

WHEREAS, without United States Department of Agriculture appropriate kitchens in charter schools, low income families are not able to receive federal free and reduced food subsidies that are provided to all other traditional public school families; and

WHEREAS, without United States Department of Agriculture appropriate kitchens in charter schools, Hawai‘i is losing millions of dollars in food subsidies for low income families per year; and

WHEREAS, the lack of appropriate free and reduced food service severely burdens and adversely impacts charter school families; and

WHEREAS, beginning 2012, the Department of Education decided that charter schools would no longer have access to the nearest existing Department of Education food service, which effectively resulted in the denial of access to qualified families receiving federal subsidized meals under the United States Department of Agriculture National School Lunch Program; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is urged to ensure that all public school students, including public charter school students, have equal access to appropriate educational facilities and food service; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to immediately provide school breakfasts and lunches to charter school students who qualify at no additional expense to the charter school or students; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is urged to provide equitable facilities support to charter schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Chair of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, and Executive Director of the State Public Charter School Commission.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Hawaii State Legislature; School Facilities and Food Service; Charter Schools; Access

THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	194
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII