STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2802

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2576

S.D. 2

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Ninth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2018

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2576, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to ensure that public schools are better prepared for emergencies.

Specifically, this measure:

(1) Requires that all classroom doors be retrofitted with an interior lock by January 1, 2019;

(2) Requires that all classrooms and outside gathering places be connected to an intercom system by January 1, 2020; and

(3) Requires the Department of Education to establish an emergency management plan to respond to an emergency or disaster.

Your Committee received written comments in support of this measure from the Oahu County Committee Legislative Priorities Committee of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and twelve individuals.

Your Committee finds that on average, one school shooting occurs every week in the United States. One of the best ways to protect students and teachers during a school shooting or other emergency is to lock the classroom doors, preventing any unauthorized person from entering the classroom. However, locking the doors of public school classrooms requires a teacher to step outside the classroom and lock the door from the exterior, which places the students and the teacher at risk. Requiring that public schools change classroom door locks to also lock from the inside will allow teachers and students to quickly and safely secure classrooms. Your Committee further finds that the requirement of interior locks should expressly include newly constructed classrooms to ensure that the students and teachers in all school classrooms will be protected.

Your Committee believes that the Department of Education, not the Department of Health, is the appropriate entity to be vested with the responsibility to establish the initial and updated emergency management plans specified in section 1 of the measure.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Clarifying that the classroom doors be equipped, rather than retrofitted, with interior locks, to ensure that the requirement also applies to future classroom construction projects;

(2) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on the measure; and

(3) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style, clarity, and consistency.

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. 2576, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2576, S.D. 2.

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

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DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair