THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2551
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to school Campuses.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii is unique in being the only state with a single unified school district. The department of education, state public charter school commission, and each county's police commission lack clear guidelines with regards to student discipline involving police on school campuses. The recent arrest of a ten-year old African American girl with disabilities at a Mililani elementary school for an offensive drawing demonstrates the problems that can arise from the lack of clear guidelines.

The legislature further finds that in 2013, the U.S. Department of Justice recommended that governing protocols, such as a memorandum of understanding, be established by school districts and police departments to distinguish between student disciplinary misconduct and criminal offenses, and to promote problem-solving policing rather than simply responding to incidents as they occur on campus. This means ensuring transparency and accountability in ways that promote non-punitive approaches to student behavior as much as possible.

A study conducted by the non-profit Leadership for Educational Equity found that a sample of school districts that implemented governing protocols experienced a sixty to sixty-six per cent decrease in student suspensions, a fifty-four to fifty-five per cent decrease in expulsions from school, and a forty-two to fifty-seven per cent decrease in school-based arrests or referrals to law enforcement. In Clayton County, Georgia, dangerous weapons on campus decreased by seventy per cent, graduation rates increased by twenty per cent, and the racial disparities in punitive discipline between African American students and white students notably decreased. Numerous school districts around the country have experienced similarly positive results in student conduct after establishing governing protocols for police in schools, including school districts in California, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

The purpose of this Act is to require the department of education, state public charter school commission, and each county's police commission to create a memorandum of understanding and other governing protocols, with input and collaboration from child development and justice experts, to provide clear guidelines on student discipline and police on campus.

SECTION 2. (a) No later than August 1, 2022, the department of education, state public charter school commission, and each county's police commission shall create a memorandum of understanding and other governing protocols, with input and collaboration from child development and justice experts, that:

(1) Identifies and outlines when and how school administrators are to address unacceptable school conduct with available school resources, including counselors, student-teacher response teams, administrators, and security guards;

(2) Identifies and outlines when and how police are to be called onto school campus, considering the police's roles for different circumstances;

(3) Identifies and outlines when and how police are to interact with students in different age categories of elementary school, middle or intermediate school, and high school, including procedures for questioning students, searching for students, filing a citation or complaint against students, arresting students, and notifying students' parents; and

(4) Encourages the implementation of restorative justice programs in schools that have proven successful in addressing the needs of victims, holding perpetrators accountable, and educating and empowering bystanders.

(b) The department of education shall submit a report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2023.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Education; Police; School Campuses; Memorandum of Understanding; Governing Protocols

Description:

Requires the Department of Education, State Public Charter School Commission, and each county's police commission to create a memorandum of understanding and other governing protocols, with input and collaboration from child development and justice experts, to provide clear guidelines on student discipline and police on campus.

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.