THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	43
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2022
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

Requesting the department of EDUCATION to conduct an electrical assessment of public schools for purposes of heat abatement and air filtration upgrades.

WHEREAS, hot classroom temperatures in Hawai‘i's public schools can adversely affect students by making them drowsy, irritable, and unmotivated; and

WHEREAS, Hawai‘i's overheated classrooms can also cause students to suffer headaches, nausea, heat rashes, heat exhaustion, and, in severe cases, heat stroke; and

WHEREAS, studies show that while classroom temperatures over eighty degrees can negatively impact student achievement, temperatures in Hawai‘i's classrooms are regularly recorded at over one hundred degrees during certain periods of the school year; and

WHEREAS, the Legislature appropriated funds under Act 47, Session Laws of Hawaii 2016 (Act 47), for purposes of heat abatement upgrades for Department of Education schools; and

WHEREAS, despite the funds appropriated under Act 47, more than five thousand Department of Education schools remain in need of heat abatement upgrades; and

WHEREAS, the ability to implement heat abatement upgrades depends in large part on electrical capacity and improvements to increase electrical capacity; and

WHEREAS, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has exposed the need for air purification measures in school classrooms, placing further demand on electrical capacity; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2022, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to conduct an electrical assessment on all public and conversion charter schools in the State; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the requested assessment shall determine whether, for each school, electrical capacity is sufficient to support the installation of air conditioning units and air purifying devices in classrooms, and for each classroom, the assessment shall indicate the level of electrical capacity needed; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to 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; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Department of Education; Heat Abatement; Air Purification; Electrical Assessment; Electrical Capacity; Report