STAND. COM. REP. NO. 49

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 245

H.D. 1

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 245 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO STUDENT HEAT EXPOSURE SAFETY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require and appropriate funds for the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health, to develop statewide guidelines related to managing heat exposure to protect students' health during outdoor activities; and

(2) Appropriate funds for wet-bulb globe temperature thermometers for all public and charter schools statewide.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Council on Developmental Disabilities; State Public Charter School Commission; Hawaiʻi Climate Change and Health Working Group; Hawaiʻi Children's Action Network Speaks!; Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Public Health Association; and six individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education; and Department of Health.

Your Committee finds that Hawaii has experienced rising air temperatures, with annual peak averages consistently breaking record highs. Exercising in hot and humid weather can be dangerous, as the body's ability to cool itself through sweating becomes less effective under humid conditions. When sweat cannot evaporate efficiently due to high moisture levels in the air, the risk of heat-related illnesses increases.

Your Committee further finds that shade can significantly reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses by providing cooler spaces for students to exercise, train, and play. Expanding shaded areas on school campuses and properties is critical for creating safer environments during outdoor activities. Additionally, wet-bulb globe temperature measurements are the gold standard for assessing heat stress. As wet-bulb globe thermometers are relatively affordable for schools and athletic departments to acquire and use, the purchase of wet-bulb globe thermometers will serve as a practical tool for ensuring safer outdoor activities.

Your Committee notes that the Department of Education needs time to examine its current practices of managing heat exposure in schools and the timeline and costs of implementing the guidelines as required by this measure.

Your Committee has accordingly amended this measure by:

(1) Deleting language which would have:

(A) Required and appropriated funds for the Department of Education to develop statewide guidelines related to managing heat exposure to protect students' health during outdoor activities; and

(B) Appropriated funds for wet-bulb globe temperature thermometers for all public and charter schools statewide;

(2) Inserting language that requires the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Health and State Public Charter School Commission, to conduct a study on the current practices of managing heat exposure in state public and charter schools to protect students' health during outdoor activities and to develop a plan if the current practices are insufficient in managing heat exposure;

(3) Amending the preamble to reflect the measure's amended purpose;

(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000; and

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

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 H.B. No. 245, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 245, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Health.

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

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair