STAND. COM. REP. NO. 15

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2019

RE: H.B. No. 506

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Lower & Higher Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 506 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLS FOR JUVENILES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to provide ongoing education to Honolulu school district students who are involved, or are at high-risk of involvement, in the justice system by:

(1) Establishing an off-campus alternative school to meet the educational needs of certain students who have exhausted all school-level resources; and

(2) Appropriating an unspecified amount for the establishment and operation of the alternative school in the Honolulu school district of Oahu.

The Judiciary, Department of the Prosecuting Attorney of the City and County of Honolulu, and Hawai‘i Lodging & Tourism Association provided testimony in support of this measure. The Community Alliance on Prisons and Hawaii Youth Services Network provided testimony in opposition to this measure. The Department of the Attorney General and Department of Education provided comments on this measure.

Your Committee notes the concern raised by the Department of the Attorney General that this measure may face a constitutional challenge because the bill's title refers to alternative schools for juvenile students only. Since Hawaii law allows individuals over the age of eighteen years to attend public schools, the bill's content proposes to establish alternative schools that will also be available to adults. Your Committee requests that the Committee on Judiciary consider this concern if this measure is granted a hearing.

Your Committee has amended this measure by changing its effective date to July 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion on this measure.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Lower & Higher Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 506, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 506, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Lower & Higher Education,

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair