STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2339

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2892

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 2892 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO KE KULA O EHUNUIKAIMALINO,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to establish a working group to address the student enrollment, capacity, and expansion needs of Ke Kula ‘o ‘Ehunuikaimalino (KKOE) by studying and developing a plan to utilize funds previously appropriated by the Legislature.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the State Public Charter School Commission.

Your Committee finds that KKOE, a Department of Education Hawaiian immersion school, is in high demand. KKOE was established with federal assistance under the Native Hawaiian Education Act and is federally mandated to accept all students.

Your Committee further finds that KKOE's current student enrollment greatly exceeds the physical capacity of KKOE's campus, which is situated in Kealakekua, on the island of Hawaii. Act 6, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020 (Act 6), appropriated $2,000,000 to the Department of Education for purposes of land acquisition to expand the KKOE campus. These funds have not yet been expended.

Accordingly, your Committee finds that this measure will help address the student enrollment, capacity, and expansion needs of KKOE and facilitate the utilization of funds appropriated under Act 6 by establishing a working group to study and develop a cogent plan to use the funds for their intended purpose.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting a blank appropriation for costs associated with the working group established by this measure;

(2) Amending section 1 to clarify that KKOE is a Department of Education Hawaiian immersion school; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2892, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2892, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

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MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair