STAND. COM. REP. NO. 287

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 1344

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1344 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Allow the administration of medication to public school students by health assistants with the approval of a health care professional within the Department of Education, Department of Health, or a health care service per a written agreement with the Department of Education; and

(2) Replace the term "school health aides" with "school health assistants" to reflect recent changes to the job title.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education, Department of Health, University of Hawai‘i System, Hawai‘i State Center for Nursing, Hawaii Primary Care Association, Epilepsy Foundation of Hawaii, and three individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from one individual.

Your Committee finds that all medication requests to be administered by school health assistants are currently reviewed and require approval by the Department of Health public health nurses. To ensure proper review of the medication request, including a determination on safety and whether the treatment is appropriate for a student, the medication management process requires clinical supervision by a health care professional to ensure the safety of students in the event unlicensed assistive personnel, such as school health assistants, are utilized to administer medication.

Your Committee notes that while some schools have a licensed health care professional on campus through written agreements with the Department of Education or through partnerships with partners such as the Nancy Atmospera-Walch School of Nursing at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, student care would be more efficient, accessible, and safe if the administration of medication could be performed with the approval of a health care professional within the Department of Education, Department of Health, or a partner in a written agreement with the Department of Education. To ensure the health and safety of Hawaii's keiki in Department of Education schools, this measure authorizes the administration of medications by school health assistants with the approval of a health care professional within the Department of Education, Department of Health, or health care service through a written agreement with the Department of Education.

Your Committee has amended this measure by 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. 1344, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1344, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

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

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair