001good afternoon welcome to the committee on education today is March 17 2025 it's 3 o'clock pm and we are in room 229 first on the agenda is House Bill 110 HD1 relating to to local agricultural products and to testify hello Cher kidani to members of the committee my name is De ucha Deputy superintendent Department of Education testifying uh we stand on a written testimony providing comments on this measure the department appreciates this Bill's intent to clarify the local food purchase goals and will do its best to meet the 30% mandate by 2030 thank you thank you next to testify Department of Agriculture D and members of the commune Matthew on behalf of the Department of Agriculture we will stand on our testimony support thank you thank you next to testify kavika kayapo hello Cher kudani
002members of the committee uh Kika kapo with Hawaii Public Health Institute and Hawaii farmy school network um this bill well aligns acts 175 and 176 helping us to make sure that the measurements for reaching 30% by 2030 is manageable um we strongly support this Bill thank you thank you is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure members any questions moving on house 1293 relating to the Department of Education procurement exempts Department of Education purchases of local edible produce and package food products less than a certain amount from the electronic procurement system requirements requires at least three written quotes for doe purchases of local edible produce and packaged food products between certain amounts requires at least two written quotes for Department of Education purchases of local Ed edible produce and package food products
003between certain amounts for certain schools in rural communities to testify superintendent Boe chair Donnie Vice chair K members of the committee Dina Department of Education the department stands on its written testimony and supportting this measure thank you for T thank you next to testify kavika Kaho hello chairani Vice chair Kim members of committee again K Kayo Public Health Institute Bo Farm to school network um we strongly support this bill uh this is another tool that the dewe can use to help get raise meet the 30% threshold um thank you thank you next to testify oh y not here next to testify Micah Mikata Vice chair his testimony is strong support thank you thank you Michel next to testify B kahui good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee Bonnie K administrator State procurement office
004the state procurement office will stand on its written testimony providing comments the $100,000 threshold is an amount that was agreed to by due in previous conversations thank you available for questions thank you Bonnie is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this matter come forward please La chair Vice chair members of the committee Cedric Gates here on behalf of the Department of Agriculture uh the department uh stands on it's written testimony offering comments on this measure here for any questions Malo thank you anyone else here wishing to testify please come forward good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee BR mamota here on behalf of the hoi Farm Bureau my apologies chair um if you do not have our written testimony make sure the uh committee gets her written testimony uh we are
005in support this measure as with all farm school um initiatives we absolutely support we want to see uh the doe uh achieve those goals um as you heard previous testifiers this is a a tool again uh any support and tools that we can give to the department education to try to re uh achieve at least the first 30% goal and then Tim may get up to 50% and we' like to see that higher but again we need to to provide doe the the ability to achieve these goals so we're in strong support and we will submit our written Tes if the committee does not have a chair my apologies thank you anyone else here wishing to testify this measure members questions all right assist the superintendent shall we try round two on this bill shoot
006let's go so so so maybe you can give us better Clarity of what you're trying to accomplish since the last time we have this bill okay well we we put out a request for proposal I think that we use a Doods one and there's another one that we go out to supplement the dods ls that only goes out once a year so in the inter room if we find a product that we want to try this would give us an opportunity to do it we use the um small purchase procurement to BU Po and it's like $25,000 and below and it was successful but we can only do it once time so if anything else comes up that's not on the vendor list that we want to try this gives us an opportunity to try
007different products so this is solely using State funds correct okay and these are direct to vendor purchases correct so why can't you guys go through your current vendors and have them purchase it for you it's not under your current contract it's I don't State funds right it's not fed funds state funds I don't think it's a product that's listed in the the the current RFP sort of ifbs why not though because it's a new product like boy wasn't on the vendor list before but why don't you want to fix that part first that the whatever so you can have flexibility on meeting the 30 you know your goals of what of locally sourced food would wouldn't you rate that more because again this is State funds not federal funds correct you should have more control
008over what state funds can buy so I'm just trying to get an understanding of what what you're trying to accomplish here if it's not on the vendor list this gives us a chance to purchase the food item but what I'm saying is why don't you put on the vendor list we will we're trying to now we're trying to put poy on the list but don't don't you have control over that how how often do you go out for a contract we have to go to you USDA to meet the requirements but these are State funds not fed funds but to get it on the list to get the reimbursement from USDA USDA has to approve the product and the ingredients and then we can get it on the list and then we can purchase from
009that so it's a there's two different procurements there's a state one and then there's a USDA requirement that's right right so but my understanding is State funds are flexible the FED funds are the ones that have to follow all that but you still need to have the product on the list that the vendor is providing okay so how long yeah so so how long would that take they go out once a year I said so next time it comes up we're trying to get four approved by USDA so we can put on the list the next time it goes out okay so so but but but but aren't you start can't you start thinking of things that you should be starting to qu on that list yeah we are right now we're looking at the
010menu we're trying to increase the amount of local products we can purchase in our existing menu okay so then you're you're good then we don't have PO on the list right now so we're trying to get it added we find other products that we can put on the list we're going to put it on the next time it goes out okay well I I have to say you're not making a good case of what you're trying to accomplish I think that that was the problem the last time is we just need to understand what mechanically you're you're trying to get to it's just sounds like you're just trying to go around procurement um and there's no thought process on how we're trying to put this all together because as I said this a state fund
011state fund is supposed to be very flexible if you're trying to meet USDA guidelines okay that's that's fine but you said you could purchase up to 25,000 already as a pilot so you would think that okay that's that that should work so then when you go in and and get the approval of whatever you're trying to get it should be within the plan so I'm just trying to confuse I'm confused on what this is trying to accomplish just saying you're going to give you more tools but it just sounds like you're it's just allowing you to do one-offs instead of trying to put it together comprehensively well I apologize if I'm not communicating effectively but what we're trying to do is we go out once a year to get the new product listed it's passed
012already and if something comes up that we want to try this gives us an opportunity to in said you can do up to 25,000 so so if if in the 25,000 you it's successful then you know you have to put it into 25,000 was only like a a handful of schools who could Supply yeah but if it's Local Foods how you how many vendors actually can supply that that amount we're trying to find out right now well that's what you're supposed to prove through the small purchases you should have more info over it rather than just saying okay give we're going to give you a $100,000 and you know try let us figure it out you should you should be able to prove that because my thing is I'm not sure there's that many that
013can can meet that that demand that you're looking for Al be at Statewide because I think I think the the thing that I'm trying to make you guys realize is that when you deal with small farmers you you it's it's very difficult to go to deal with the doe right and so you may not you know you need to understand what that small farmer um you know mix is like and and what will you know make them deal Direct IR L with you that's why I'm like okay if you have somebody existing if you have an aggregator that might be easier to to to make it successful I'm just saying I don't know I'm listening to this I don't know if you have it thought out you know I think I I thought a little
014bit about this this area it's just when you you present to us I'm not sure it makes sense in my head well we're looking for the the companies that can provide the product on each island and once we identify them we're going to try work with the Distributors to make sure that they connect with these The Producers so we don't I don't think we want to set up a model where we're purchasing directly from the farmers we want to go to the Distributors who can aggregate different suppliers on any Island and provide us the product to us right that's that's what we've been asking so that is this bill what you need to allow that your aggregators but this sounds like this is direct which is just a shortterm inter room until we can get
015the product on the list and then we can start dealing with the Distributors to aggregate the different Farmers okay all right okay so last time you told us that you would see if you could get it on the list right that the contract might not have gone out yet when did the contract go out I think it went out already when did it I think went out in February I think it was February last you think it was feary I can get I'll get you the exact date okay we had these questions and you would think you would have it now because this is a similar bill and I asked that question to you the Senate bill right okay I'll get it for you this time okay so February so in order to get it
016on and you're going to go back out again next February is that the plan how often do you go out I think it's once a year but I can check to make sure okay so if it's once a year and you already went out in February is it great to good to assume that you're going to go out next February I don't want to speculate but probably yeah probably okay so you can put this on the next list for February you can put poy on the list once we get approval from USDA you can put it on right okay so now you have this bill this bill may not get into effect until the governor sign it or whatever and so you're going to be able to put all this together and get somebody for
017$100,000 worth of poy to be able cure $100,000 worth of Po yet in February it's going to go on the list so between now and February why do you need this inum bill if there's another product that we want to test aside from po then we can use this bill to test the product but you can test the product with TW current 25,000 but it's very limited on what we can we can only do it one time a year only small purchase you cannot do multiple small purchases to different vendors not for the same product no I thought you said you want a different product you just tell me it's for a different I'm saying if we if we purchase a new product says um you know limo if we put a a small purchase
018for limo out we cannot do another small purchase for Lio 25,000 okay but how many how are you talking about every school year or forever one year school year okay so you can do one small purchase a year one small purchase for $225,000 period that's correct per year for that product for that product so you put out one for POI already right did you put one out for po we did one last year I did last po yeah okay so you did it when when did you do that I don't know exactly I can get that for you okay because you already did that so you would think that it would have gone if you had already done it Why didn't it go into the February because we don't have the USD approval of poy
019as a as an item we can use we have to approve the dietary components okay so what process are you in with the USDA to get we're working out with them now and the content how long have youve been working it out with them the last several months we've been going back and forth with them to try and get for approv okay so now you want to you you want this to go up because you might want to do limo or or some other product that we don't have on the list right now so how have you been doing it before the 25,000 small purch You' been doing that right I mean how many how much limo can how much limo what Farmers that do limo can do 50 $100,000 worth of limo I don't
020know we haven't asked him I'm just saying that this is a vehicle we can use for something the Lim was just an example and not saying we gonna purchase $100,000 with a limo but you're saying you can only do it once right so can you do okay so if it's $100,000 can you do four small purchases for 25,000 each I don't know I would have to check with for that yes sure so right we could do it up to 100,000 that's but that's the parse thing so if you do four of 25,000 we could do that if we have 100,000 threshold we would fall under that 100,000 but you canot do it for the same vendor right we we could do it for this you could do it as long as it's under the 100,000
021total cap we could do that Y and the purpose for doing that would be what maybe if we'd want to do a different island or if we want to do a different bunch of schools to see if it's just as popular within those schools or in others because as as uh uh Senator Hashimoto was mentioning we do want to see beyond just a small group we want to see Statewide if we can find some of that same interest and that same desire to eat whatever that product would be okay so this is only to test this is not for you to be able to continually use this vehicle to be able to purchase over and over again $100,000 correct correct this got to be so what we're trying to do is figure out what products
022might be popular or what for example maybe perit maybe something that we haven't looked at previously right or or any sort of these these sort of products that maybe we haven't thought about Rutan you know Hai is very unique you know a lot of the different um vegetables that are and and produce that's involved here that's why we also have almost all of I think the produce in Hawaii Falls under specialty crop because it's not something that's grown in other parts of the the nation so we we Face very different sort of uh both challenges and and benefits of being here in [Music] Hawaii okay so is this requires a report from you as to what vendors you you you um we're happy I don't think it currently does but I think we'll be more
023than happy to put a requirement about what vendors would use because it would be interesting to see the report on what vendors you actually sampled out and what you're doing year with it because if if it's been used for other purposes I think that would raise concerns for me as well totally agree okay thank you thank you members further questions thank you okay moving on House Bill 1069 relating to education this adds two voting members that represent the department education and Board of Education to the school facilities authority to testify Department of Education after chair Vice chair members of the committee Dino of Education the department stands on its written testimony and support of this measure thank you thank you capson you also wanted to testify good afternoon chair uh Vice chair and members good
024to be back with you in person today capson po executive director of the board uh the board does stand on its written testimony uh in support of the measure and believes the addition of the board's voice to the SFA board uh would help with the needed account ability strategic input and oversight M thank you Ricky fuani thank you chair Kanani Vice chair Kim members r fujitani with the school facilities Authority we've submitted testimony with comments and are available for questions thank you thank you is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure if not members any questions okay I'll start off uh let's see Ricky can you come back up so the last time we heard this measure the Senate measure there were concerns about communication what what happened since then has there
025been more communication or better communication or what right so just to give you context right we have three programs preschools work for housing in New School Central Maui we have one program manager SFA has only eight employees we have three employees that focus on those programs actually two of the three are former doe project coordinators so they know the process very very well they have monthly twice a month meetings with their counterparts at the doe on those meetings to discuss all issues so that's all been scheduled that's continuing um and so you've held have you held a meeting after we heard the bill yes okay and who showed up at that meeting so for uh do who showed up at that yeah so for for uh preschools the first one is it's Heidi Armstrong okay
026and she's with uh the r k initiative and she was there at the yes for um Workforce housing it was um uh Deputy superintendent head of FTB the land person project management so they meet on that okay uh and then for new school Central Maui it's it's in full flight actually we had probably four or five meetings the last one was actually in Maui okay with with all the key principles okay in so was there issues that you e felt wasn't being addressed um that you're aware of yeah not that I'm aware of I mean we document everything everything's been documented we can send you that information if requested yes okay and um who's current members on the board right now the board members are Harold Edwards he is the industry representative he's a contractor
027for design build water uh uh Janny wasi who's a former uh deal principal and uh that's it but you have five members so three vacancies right so there were positions but the governor has retracted some of those um those positions that were in okay so you haven't been able to vote on anything how how long have you had right so um those positions were retracted last Monday so we had three members until then and we had our last board meeting so in our next board meeting we only have two members but by Statute that is Quorum because it's the majority of the sitting members so as long as we have as long as they agree then we can continue and approve measures with even two members even two members yes and what kind of things
028do you folks have to vote on um typically policy level things for what's coming up it would be the next series of Workforce housing locations uh at least to start the due the due diligent process and identify properties um for Central Maui schools not much because it's pretty much in design and planning and for preschools um pretty much that's being dictated by the ready Ki steering committee yes yes okay so there's not much at the moment any more questions fore do anybody El have questions from I have other questions okay um how about doe then so again can you tell this committee what what what it is that you think having two voting members as I believe the measure we passed out last time was two ex official members right so what is it that
029two voting members would accomplish or the problem it will solve that we can't solve now we can't solve with having two ex official members good because you're dealing with um basically school facilities um the doe would like more of a say in what happens with SFA and how they're moving forward so when you say have a say what do you what do you mean by that like aren't you folks don't you have a don't you aren't you included in the meetings where you can right but when the board takes action I think Poe wants to be a part of that decision making with the SFA for takes action and so what kind of actions have they taken that you folks felt that you didn't have a say in or needed to have a say in
030I think um early on I don't think we're aware of some of the projects that were ongoing um and I think if were if we had membership representation on the board we might have been more aware of what was happening before it went public see that that's the thing I'm trying to H get a handle on you want to be more aware but the me the meetings are public you can sit on it now and be aware or with nonvoting members you can be there part of the discussion and be aware so you know that's what I heard last time you want to be aware but it seems as though and then when I asked how many meetings I the superintendent how many meetings he only went to one so it's like okay we have
031stuff at all the meetings and and since the last meeting that the senate had the hearing on I've asked them to include us in all the meetings going forward so myself or another of the deputies would be sitting in on the meetings so how much more aware do you think you're going to be if you you be a voting member well I think that that decision making is what we want to be a part of not just the awareness but we want to be a part of the decision Mak okay other questions members maybe this question is for the Board of Ed executive director so since the last time we had this meeting did you guys have a presentation from SFA yes uh Senator we we did SFA came I believe in the February meeting
032and I think there was a lot of robust discussion between the Board of Education uh and SFA okay and then did are did you take our advice of having it as a standing agenda item or you guys are not going to do that we were um but then we we they were we took them off the the March agenda item but I do think periodic um having them show up periodically on the board uh meeting uh agenda why did you take them off of the March agenda uh that was the board was going to consider was in the process of possibly considering action uh regarding um School impact uh districts but um SFA requested that it be removed no no no but I'm just talking about a standing report from SFA so there there's none
033of that there there was uh in its place I think part of it was to honor the discussion and interests of what that discussion would have encompassed so that was used instead to talk about school impact fees um and and impact districts sort of generally and I think a lot of um issues were brought to top of mind for the Board of Education members okay so so so the reason that I ask is there is no reason to me why you need to have this bill if you just proactively kept keep adding them to your agenda the board so now that you took them off and didn't have a standing report it questions what's the commitment from the Boe side to start communicating with SFA so so you know assistant superintendent or deput you know
034your Deputy is saying that you want to be communicated to but but you know it's it's a two-way street you you you guys should foster that communication doesn't necessarily need to be just on a um you know you're sitting on the board but it's the question is if you have a doe member who's on the SFA board who are they reporting back too that's the question and so that's why I'm saying if if you if you really want to have that dialogue it should be at the board level and you should have everyone in that conversation at a posted meeting so if you're choosing not to do that then it's tells me that you guys are a part of the problem and why do we need this bill to fix it for you when you
035guys aren't proactively taking steps to fix that communication problem um well Senator then I think if we're part of the problem I think part of the reason for it is and for the ask is to be part of the solution right the solution is why don't you just have them as a standing agenda item well and so I do easy you don't have you don't need legislation we can look at doing that but again you know at at an well meet me halfway at least say you're going to do something cuz if you're asking me for this absolutely do something it doesn't seem like you're meeting me halfway you're just like okay yes move on but I do want to make sure I make the point though that it's not just about receiving updates right
036I do think similar to the department the board also wants more of a say but the board that's a good time for every single board member to have their say at that point right at s SFA meeting you're not going to have every single board member giving instant feedback on any project anyway thank you chair thank you yeah I have a question for you so it says the chairperson of the board or the chairperson's designate yes so it's it somebody that you're going to designate or you're going to sit I mean not you but the the board chair I mean the current board chair is Roy Tumi and I think um from some previous discussions I think we've had here uh I think his intention was whoever whether it's him or a design that it
037would be consistent that was I think your suggestion Vice chair that we don't change it every time so probably try be consistent with that so so this person will then have the ability to vote on SFA will they be voting on behalf of the board of BOE they'll be voting on from them by them mean how are they going to be able to run this on the board and is it going to be a board agreed that you should be voting this way I I I don't I'm not actually sure uh but I that not how I envisioned it I did Envision that it would be a representative of the board and uh they would have the authority to vote how how they saw fit and perhaps provide updates back to the Board of Education
038about what was going on at SFA but that the design would have the power uh and flexibility and authority to vote um without without really any restriction just how they feel they should and there in lies my concern because you're not going to necessarily be in aware of what that individual voted for before they vote right because I'm hearing this from doe as well so doe wants to be more aware they want to have a say well are they going to really have a say when the person that's there actually has to vote on something and maybe they're G to vote the way and the rest of the doe might not agree I mean I'm not again I'm not certain how this measure is going to make them more aware of what's going on which
039by having a non-voting member would probably serve the same way because again you're not going to pull the whole board to say how should we vote on this well I think um Senator sometimes uh you know it would be you have opportunity to have conversation right and you sort of know where people stand and perhaps overall what their values are and they're uh sort of you know heading in the right direction do they think things are heading in the right direction the board and I probably asked you the same question you folks ever reached out to the SFA board to let them know about certain issues and perhaps like how you folks tell us or you guys need to vote in favor of this you need to vote in favor of that please vote for
040this this is you folks we do monitor um it but I I don't know if we've actually said here specifically the action we want to take I I wouldn't want to go that far and say that but I do know we do want did you let them know how you guys feel on these issues that's on the agenda I I I I don't know if there was a specific I don't want to say yes or no I don't I can't think of us my issue that if you folks aren't communicating it then just because you have one member on from you guys board that that is going to be communicated as well because assumption is going to be that person is going to represent us we've had Representatives on heart I've never known what they
041were going to do I never agreed with them on what they voted on heart on the city on the rail okay never agreed with them and I don't think they ever came and asked us what we thought they voted the way they wanted to vote so I just doesn't know that this is going to to solve that issue and when doe had all of the facilities under doe there was a problem there were problems we had to move it out try all these different methods and now we're at SFA thinking that this is going to solve the problem they're gonna all be better and now it's not now doe wants back in to have control again so I I'm just yeah I'm having I I think I hear you I I do think again it's
042the at least from the board's perspective the board sees that sfa's largest client is basically the department and and that takes up most of the board of education's time and that's why the board uh was asking for its seat as well there in lies the thing why don't you have them on your agenda if you're the they're your you're their client yeah there there are efforts and I think I Feer I do think it's ongoing communication and engagement opportunities you know just because we didn't do once for one month doesn't mean uh we can't keep coming back to that and seeing when things can fit in and when we can have some of those discussions right I mean I think part of what's needed is more calibration on what's needed is ongoing consistent consistency which
043you just proved to us this by taking them off that that's not happening so thank you any further questions comments I do believe though capson that because this is related to the Department of Education and and the facilities that they need that it's important for for the Department to have um uh their voices heard and that's the reason for for this um measure is to make sure that um the board as as Board of Education as well as Department of Education is represented yes I I think so I absolutely agree with that chair and I do think it allows more opportunity for conversation uh uh alignment and calibration in all of our efforts because at the end of the day I think we all agree that um the board believes at least that we have
044to build school facilities that are gy deserve and their communities deserve thank you okay that last moving on to sc66 and sr44 requesting the Department of Education to develop and Implement a Statewide financial literacy curriculum curricular plan for public high school students to testify captains Aloha again chair Vice chair and members capson po executive director of the board the board does stand on a written testimony supporting the intent of this measure and we do suggest and request uh small amendments basically to use board policy Mahal Stephanie Sakamoto good afternoon chair members of the committee Stephanie sakota on behalf of the hoi Credit Union League um I just want to reiterate that while we support strr 66 we would prefer um the pass passage of HB 619 thank you thank you next to testify Tong goopo
045Chamber of Commerce good afternoon chair Vice chair members of the committee tongo po Chamber of Commerce standing in support of Our Testimony also want to thank you chair for your leadership and introducing the resolution we do believe that financial literacy is a really big component to preventing the brain drain as we've seen throughout the years for our local students leaving the islands after college and after high school so here for any questions and also happy education week thank you thank you Tom next to testify Dana your sister could have come and helped you with hello Vice Sher Kim members of the education committee my name is danen Honda and this is Phoebe Phoebe is two and a half years old we are testifying in support of sc66 and sr44 I brought Phoebe here today with
046me because when finatal literacy legislation was first brought up in Hawaii I was just a little kid myself and today here I am as an adult and recently a father and we're still here talking about potentially making this happen this minder here is filled with all the financial literacy legislation introduced over the years to me these aren't just pieces of paper these represent the voices of so many of us over time advocating for a more resilient Hawaii when I first started fighting for financial literacy it was due to my personal story of overcoming Financial challenges to become a homeowner but really it's so much more than just myself or all of us for that matter it's about our future generations and giving them the education that they need and the hope that they need that
047by working hard and smart that they can continue living here in Hawaii so please let's not delay any longer and let's provide the accountability and the resources needed to make this happen thank you so much thank you M's question thank you next to testif Marvin D good afternoon chair Vice chair and members of the committee Marvin Deng testifying on behalf of Visa Visa is a private sector leader in financial literacy and has developed a the Practical money skills program in conjunction with government agencies Educators and others you know uh this resolution is very important it's important because when high school students are able to learn about financial literacy and management skills it will make them better prepared to face the economic challenges that they may have to deal with as adults thank you very much
048is there anyone else wishing to testify on this measure please forward um this good afternoon chair kidani Vice chair Kim and members of the committee I'm Terry USI Jima assistant superintendent with the Department of Education testifying on behalf of the superintendent um I apologize for our late testimony the department is committed to expanding financial literacy education and has convened a literacy task force last spring in 2024 and has published an updated list of resources that has been distributed to all principals uh teachers and complex area superintendents um we have also um we are currently reviewing the vision of the high school graduate and following that we are going to be reviewing the required grit credits for graduation and we um note that the proposed resolution does have some challenges in terms of implementation Staffing and
049funding So to that end the department has requested an appropriation for a position dedicated to financial literacy uh to assist with implementing literacy financial literacy more fully so thank you for the opportunity to testify thank you members questions yes we always come to the point that we going have to add funding position which is okay but H where did he go you know teaching this in the schools where did it go what what took place at that um over the years that we replac it what we don't have today what you just said because we putting we tried to get it back into the schools but what happened to it when we was going school so that's the question I mean I understand you guys asking funding don't get me wrong it's it's a great
050thing to fund but we we're spending a lot of money adding positions adding positions and then you know you guys doing with Tas so when when are we going to be able to just use with what we have uh we have been using what we have so far and over the last three years um we have um had people who we don't have any dedicated um person with that this Falls within their duties um but we've pulled people um to work together to create to create and determine some financial literacy standards based on national uh Financial litery standards which didn't exist before um and uh we did convene a task force um with the resources that we have um inviting different stakeholders and we did come up with a report that list the recommendations and
051um even vetting um you know an updated list of financial literacy resources for our schools we've identified some free ones um and we've talked to Credit Union Partners we've talked to some um vendors there's newer things coming out all the time and some of it looks really good um and so there's some options that are no cost to schools because and some of it is from Community Support uh what we don't have is someone who is dedicated to facilitate uh this work and to move it forward forward more quickly we've also um explored um um you know the personal transition plan um that's um in progress right now and we've done we're asking students what are some of the things that should go in that and so we did add a question um to ask
052students what's important to you and as we continue our work with the vision of the high school graduate um that should be the core right um what we want to produce so um we're anticipating financial literacy um because we're hearing some of it already and um we've been hearing it from the community Our intention also is you know we know it's important for all our graduates to have basic financial literacy skills before they graduate um so we so once that's done then we of course we'll um include stakeholders in the graduation requirements and because that's one of the recommendations that resulted from the task force result um report and you know the number one um recommendation we had 11 members support this and uh no one um opposed it to or neutral was for financial
053literacy to be a fundamental core skill that should be embedded within the k12 and right now it is but I think we have to update to see exactly where it is we have list um but that's um we've updated our social study standards since then so um that would need updating but the second recommendation it um the gradu um the department should make financial literacy a mandatory graduation requirement that was tied as the second recommendation um with a stepbystep plan to make it a recommendation but do it more gradually and incorporate some of the other recommendations um into the process BR this something and I came and I was interested because all the students from my school well not my school the school I used to go to Camp High School I was surprised all
054of the kids that came different times they came with in over half of them was talking about that and then other half was transportation and it was really was really um good to hear that we're going to try to do something like this big that's what they asked when they were sitting in front of me that was the ask so he just want to take Senator K and his committ yeah and we we would like to do more too um we're just requesting thank you appreciate J question so you've testified to us in the past that deal that the schools some schools or many schools offer financial literacy as an elective correct that some some yes they they have the option to do that about I want to say four years ago um um a
055accn code was created so that schools could offer it as an option um okay so my question is why why are you going through all of this when if it's already been an elective and the whole requests have been over the years is to put it as a requirement in the schools so I don't understand why you need a dedicated person I know this resolution calls for a lot of stuff but over the years we've just asked that it be part of the requirements in as a required class so if you already have an elective you already have the basis of what should be taught we do we have that part we have um some drafted financial literacy standards okay and the elective course um it's a interdisciplinary elective so it could be um taking
056things from social studies it could be taking things from math it could um so when we came up with the financial literacy standards that is um a resource for any school who's providing financial literacy to kind of use that as a guideline so you are covering things very similar to what is in this resolution um but to make it a requirement um as if it's a graduation requirement it would have to go through a process and um okay so what's the difference between having it as a a regular course not an elective but not necessarily saying it's a requirement for graduation because if it's part of what you have to take everybody would take it right so I don't know the difference between it being a a a course that's that's embedded into the into
057the high school uh versus saying it's a graduation requirement because it would be part of the whole overall graduation requirement I mean we've been asking for this simply all these years as you can see from the folder that I've I've introduced measures for it other members here have can see yes right so how and then you you go and you put together a a um task force I don't understand because this is parents have called us contacted us we've talked to you folks about it so I I I don't and you have electives you just haven't pulled the trigger to make it part of the overall we keep hearing you got to take something away well you know again I'm not sure how us giving you one position because we don't give your a position
058every time you guys decide to add something to your to the curriculum right it's um that the our specialists in our office um they're at pretty much at capacity in terms of what they need to do and so um to devote the kind of attention we would need to to to move this forward so that we can the difference is I think we would like to ensure that every high school student has um basic financial literacy exposure right before they graduate right now right now it's kind of if they choose to take an itive they can so one idea that um was proposed was perhaps if it is incorporated into an existing course you know that might be a possibility and so part of the reason for having a task force was to see not
059just okay I think everyone agrees that financial literacy is extremely important then why has it taken the do so long to even put something together so we have been trying with the resources that we've had okay the last question I have is you mentioned you folks ask students what they want right you've asked students what they want in the financial literacy um we just put out a um as part of our personal transition plan survey um we first um had we went to some of our student leaders and so we posed a question out there I have not seen the Reas what's the question um I think it's asked I don't have the specific question in front of me but um we added it amongst other questions um regarding their aspirations for future careers what
060kinds of skills do they need to know what you know what kind of um knowledge but we had a specific question um about financial literacy in terms of should it be I think it was incorporated in as part of their personal transition plan that's that is a graduation requirement well I I I can understand you asking that question but it's hard to ask a question to somebody who maybe not not know what they need to know right I mean you have these high school graduates and they're not they're not I'm sure like when I was graduating what I needed to know as far as financial literacy I think that's why you're there I don't think you asked them you know what kind of algebra you think you need to have or um but I'm just
061saying saying that you folks are the Educators we are the ones that's supposed to come up with the policy and so it's great that you ask them but I hope you're just not waiting to see because a lot of times they're not going to be aware of what are the things they need to learn they might not know about you know student debt and and what and you know some of the things that are going on they might not know about you know the stock market and how to invest and stuff so how would they even know to add that in their their answer I think our question was more General I think they know that financial literacy is really important being able to manage your um your money when you grow you know get
062a job even if they may not know the very specific things like credit or you know how do you um um look in terms of um making smart financial decisions budgeting and looking at yeah as a high school student do you know they get so much money they're going to spend it they fig I know enough about finances that I don't need to take a class right I mean so I'm just saying that that we've been asking for this for over a decade and I think that's the issue with the electives because with the electives they would spend a whole semester um just on that topic I think in general um it appears that um financial literacy having those skills is um more of an interest well I think right now we need at least
063a one quarter of financial literacy to start and I think this is something that should have been implemented years ago and should be implemented immediately and I don't necessarily think that you need to go through a working group asking a survey and going through all of this stuff um to be able to give them the basics on Basics at least the basics on Financial literacy and many schools I think you know are it's just that we are not able to say that every student has it before they graduate from high school and that's what we would like to be able to do okay thank you further questions so so at least give us a timeline what is the timeline that you're looking at I think the timeline depends on our resources as well um so
064that is why but if it's a priority you make it happen so are you saying that it's not a priority I I think it has been a priority so that despite this not being in anyone's specific you know um responsibilities we have found a way to uh create the standards to uh get stakeholder um input and um we've updated our resources and even that you know requires time because um you have to meet with people you have to review materials and uh when we put something out there for schools to use uh we want to make sure that it's something that okay so so so don't so what is the class that everyone has to take these days I think back when I was you know this is 20 years ago was like everyone had
065to take guidance class yes I right is that is that still around no it's not okay what what what did that transform into um it's a person transition plan okay so it's not even a class anymore it is a half credit course okay so so there's something there yes so why don't you try and just get something in there as an incremental step can you commit to that at least I something I give us a timeline so you know respectfully I don't think it's my sole decision to say at least if I had a magic wand um that might be one thing that I might you know want to do but it's um because what I'm feeling is you're just kind of saying you're doing all these things and you're kind of like okay we'll
066keep doing it and we'll doing we're going to keep doing it and then we're going to be here next year with the same conversation so I just want to know something that we can say okay you you committed that some at least something will happen something th give us something I think with additional resources that we will um be able to but but but that's the thing who works on the personal transition plan curriculum right now that that person should be able to do it so um we have our office of student support services so they work on that right now um AC cross office you know we have someone from our office also involved we have um they have people from other offices as well so it's not solely them but they're reviewing that
067right now to see what else needs to um because right now there's variation in terms of how the P personal transition plan is designed mind because um the schools look at their school communities their students and they have come up with what they have determined as most appropriate I get it I get it so so so what I'm hearing and just just so you know this is what I'm hearing is there's a lot of excuses well there's that's what I'm hearing I a lot of excuses well I'm sorry if it sounds like we're making excuses um you know we do want to make happened for all our students and um and part of that might be through the personal transition plan it if we're I'm just telling you something that's existing if you say you
068need more resources I'm throwing something out there and if you feel that that's not the way then you go find something else but I'm giving you an idea I and and that's a great idea and I think that idea but when can we get something that you think should be you should be able to deliver something I'm not not seeing a full class I don't even know if you need a full class but at least something that we can have to all students before they graduate like writing a check how many people know how to write a check that every single high school student I don't think I even learned how to write a check in high school I think it was thanks to my eighth grade English teacher who taught us how to write
069a check so I don't so so some needs to be revamped with the curriculum and you should be concerned that people don't know how to write a check or balance a checkbook that doesn't concern you uh I I think they should be able to write a right I I just had this long conversation who was my sis with my sister who teaches in high school and we're talking about what are the life skills that people need and it's not embedded in the doe curriculum and so I think your office should be tasked with trying to figure out what is the relevant skills that people need and and not needing to create all these excuses to to get it implemented I think I'm just I'm just really frustrated maybe it's not even reso that we need
070maybe we need to move the bill because it just seems like when we come back here in one year you're going to say oh you know we maybe we moved a little bit on our working group but nothing has happened yet and I don't want that to happen I don't know what it's it's going to take we're giving you the freedom through a reso to implement this but every time nothing happens and that's the frustration well I things are happening I think um we do want things to happen quicker and um and that has been Our intention and I know that it has not been quick enough and given our present um capacity I uh we have um been doing what we can okay well well I think if if it reflects a priority of
071the department then it should you you can figure out how to make it happen with the hundreds and hundreds of employees that you have existing and if it's not then you will continue to give excuses so I think that is the litness test so if if if you feel that it's important you will make it happen so thank you chair thank you um I have a question yes so do you have any idea how many other states require financial literacy I would have to go back and check on that could you please yes we will check on that let this committee I think at one time we checked but I I don't have because if they have Financial literacy what did they give up or did they extend the school hours I'm just I'm just
072asking we need to the curriculum yeah we need to look at this because this comes up every year and we are um it is in cue for us to review our graduation requirements that's part of our um strategic plan so it is and who makes that decision the Board of Education would have to approve it okay but do are do they realize what we're asking and what we've asked for a number of years when you guys go over the curriculum I I believe they [Music] do okay well I'm not sure if what you believe is correct but I'd like to know for sure thank you two more questions one for you so you folks already asked for this position that you talk about in your testimony yes that was already asked in the beginning of
073the we asked the previous year also for the position okay can we have Board of Education come on thank you so the the Boe knows that this is a bill and this is something that we have asked for year after year for I don't know a decade now I think and what has the board done has the board passed a policy to say that this should be part of the graduation requirements or what what did the board do no the the board has not I I don't think the board has actually considered it I'd have to go back and confirm is there a reason why they haven't considered it I I without repeating some of the reasons that basically I was going to mention some of the reasons that the department did the board um
074has been the board is aware and is more keenly aware I think um you know especially after this session knowing um how how long or the the history now right that it has been for several sessions now so so the board is aware and and taking a look uh as far as getting movement um the board um was tends to look at the PTP that personal transition plan that uh assistant superintendent spoke about as the one of the preferred means to do it so have the board looked at look at it or you just talked about looking at um there's been discussion it and maybe more uh an update uh perhaps by one of the Committees uh usually that falls under the student achievement committee um but uh Vice chair I think to your question
075as the board you know grab the ball and run with it U perhaps not that aggressively what would it take to have that happen because again the board is well aware I mean I I we've been sitting in these meetings for years and there's always been somebody from Board of Education um in the meetings and we've asked them what it would take to to require it to be part of the graduation requirements or to be one of the required classes and they said well we have to look at what we're going to get rid of or what it's going to replace so I am just shocked to hear that you folks have not gone beyond a discussion that has not been something that you voted on um as to whether you're going to add it
076to the personal personal what is it called the person transition or because I know I had guidance class as well and you know I'm not sure why the wheel has to be reinvented when you already have electives out there there's other states that have adopted it and again we're not talking about you know um literacy 5.0 we're talking about literacy 101 or you know less than 101 basic literacy writing a check and understanding about you know when you when you charge something that you're going to have these fees and you're going to have late fees and so forth um because I know my sister and my mom thought I just paid a minimum amount you know didn't realize it's going to take them 11 years to pay off the balance if they only pay the
077minimum but those are the basic stuff and so I mean between the Board of Education and and educate doe you know you guys have smart people with degrees come on I can't you can figure this out we haven't done it yet I I think Senator to I should say then that you know you ask what it would take and I do think conversations like this to remind the board staff the department staff is part of that okay but we're tired already we've had this discussion over and over again we don't know what it's going to take you know can you ask the board to agenda this issue for their next meeting and um go as far as asking other states and counties um whether or not they have had um literacy required financial literacy required
078and if so what did they have to give up or what did they have to do what what was the mechanic chair absolutely I can tell you I will uh take that back to the either the board chair of the appropriate committee chair uh to see um what might be able to get scheduled thank you and we'll take that I'll take I'll definitely take that back thank you kson further questions comments yeah if we have a bill the bill pass what would you f do I I well Vice chair if if it is the prerogative and decision of the legislature of course we would have to comply so why AR be passing the bill well for me the reason why is I don't know what they would have to give up that's that's the the
079hard part they just add it to the personal or add it to the time frame of school and you know I'm just saying there's a lot of other things invol but then we just heard that it could be added to that personal gener without giving up in but I think unless we get serious about it it's not going to happen we've seen that just my two step I think when the board does consider it Vice chair um the board does also take into account some of the messaging that needs to go out to the schools I it is a large system so we do try the board does try and take that into account but but I as I said to chair I will definitely take that back thank you anyone else here wishing to
080provide testimony if not um recess reconvening the committee on education so committee has been in discussion and the recommendation is for Bill 110 HD1 to pass with amendments and we will defect the date to July 1 20150 okay um if there's no discussion House Bill 11 Z house draft one pass with amendments chair kidani hi chair votes I shimo hi Senator can hi Senator Dort Hi Five members present all voting I recommendations adopted thank you for House Bill 1 1293 house draft two the recommendation is the same to pass with amendments and defect the date to July 1 20150 okay members House Bill 1293 house draft two any members voting no any members with reservations hearing none recommendations adopted thank you for House Bill 1069 HD1 recommendation of the chair is to pass with amendments
081and the Amendments would be to um add to take the language of Senate Bill 1388 sd2 and defect the date to July 1 2015 okay recommendation HB 10 10669 1069 house draft one uh with amendments any measure any member voting no any mbers no no any members with reservations hearing none four members voting I one no recommendations adopted thank you and for the final measure sr66 and sr44 which request the doe to develop and Implement a Statewide financial literacy plan for public high school students recommendation is to pass as is strr 66 and sr44 pass as is any member V voting no any members with reservations hearing none recommendation is adopted with five members voting thank you member that concludes like to call the committee on higher education and jointly with education uh to order
082we are in room conference room 229 it is 419 we're on the 301 agenda item uh and this meeting is being streamed lived on YouTube and in the likely event we have to abruptly end this hearing due to technical difficulties a committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Tuesday uh that's tomorrow in room 229 at 3 p.m. uh our first item on the agenda and only item on the agenda is House Bill 549 house draft three relating to Early Learning apprenticeship grant program and this establishes an early learning apprenticeship grant program to be administered by the University of Havi and here to testify on that measure is let's see you cross ARA cross for early learning office of early learning hi Cher Kim and Cher kidani I'm Yuko Ado cross director of the
083executive office on early learning we stand on our written testimony and support and we defer to the University of Hawaii on implementation and funding Early Learning registered apprenticeship programs provide aspiring Early Childhood professionals with structured hands-on experience employer paid classroom learning and comprehensive support to advance their careers many people entering the Early Learning field are non-traditional students who really benefit from the additional wound support and mentoring included in this model by investing in these programs we can address Workforce shortages through Recruitment and Retention improve compensation and benefits and strengthen early um career Pathways for early learning professionals EOL welcomes the opportunity to collaborate with uh on the grant award criteria and we appreciate the legislator's contined investment in ouri and their families thank you thank you uh Nathan Morata from University of Hawaii hi good
084afternoon Cher Kim sherani Senator can Nathan Mor Dean College of Education uh Mano we stand in support of our written testimony I'll be available for questions thank you thank you javel Davis chair Kim and Cher kadani My Name is chel Davis with Hawaii children's action Network speaks and we will stand on our written testimony in support Mahalo thank you uh Michael go go not present on Zoom chair present okay um Viviano Aloha chair and vice chair I'm Vivien etto here on behalf of Early Childhood action strategy we'll stand on our written testimony in support of this measure thank you so much uh Terry lock Aloha chair Aloha Vice chair thank you so much for hearing this bill I stand on my testimony as presented and if there's any questions I'll be here to answer them
085Mah thank you Joshua wish hello chair Josh wish with Hua we'll also stand on our testimony and support available for any questions you might have thanks so much great thank you so much anybody else wishing to testify on this measure in this room or on Zoom or out in the hallway okay none members questions I have questions for you so Nathan how would this Apprentice grant program work um my understanding is the uh funding would be coming to the university university uh puts together the the protocols and and criteria and works closely with eel and the counties uh and then the grant monies are then uh distributed to uh either the counties or the service provider for our uh infants and todders and up to age five programs okay so it doesn't actually go to
086those people actually doing the program it will because then each not training them somebody training them or just just giving money out I I was well I I think it it's um we're not doing any training uh per se uh but we are able to provide the funding so that they can continue to receive uh some training and some services in order for them to M stay within the profession the training excuse me um so the training actually will be at the community colleges so the as an apprenticeship model it's a earn while you learn program uh we beginning we're beginning at the community college we actually have started one um started apprentices at Hulu Community College what we want to expand it to other four we have four Early Childhood programs at our community
087colleges across our state so we want to expand it that way okay so these providers would come and take the take us so the the providers would be the ones that would be hiring the apprentices and become right the apprentices will go take classes how long is that so currently for an apprentice to start the program and then actually complete it to get their Associates will be three years okay and so this grant would pay for the entire three years this grant will pay yes will pay for the three years for The Apprentice okay is there any kind of requirement for them to I me what happens if they decide they don't want oh like a service obligation yeah so so in order to um so part of the requirement will be to retain stay
088in that that organization to work for several years so we is that something that's going to be drafted prior to that'll be part of the procedures yeah and so I do want to say that um we have one registered apprenticeship program currently in Hawaii one Early Childhood apprenticeship program program and that has been already vetted by the Department of Labor and so they these these providers are actually follow what that um apprenticeship model is which is a three-year program and it has a service and if it and they don't do it then they have to pay back they have to get pay back on that okay um and so this you just have one program now at HCC we have well we have one sponsoring agenc and then their their Apprentice is at HCC um
089we have some interest in Hawaii Island at this point how many apprentices can you're asking for approximately how much for this program yeah so um it's blank in here in on right yeah we left an a a flyer yeah you did leave a flyer yeah and what what that flyer is based from our last um meeting here we decided to be a little bit strategic and and present to you something less than what was asked for primarily also we have the um some funding from the castle Foundation to help us so help us start we wanted to um provide that updated so what's that less I know my St that ask for oh that one um actually they're just giving us a beginning amount well an amount of about 40,000 to get started and that
090would go to Every Apprentice has to have a mentor similar to other trades usually the in other trades it's called a journey worker right what's the ask what's the ask oh for um for to the ledge what is the ask okay so back it's it's changed from the the back yeah so initially we ask for um about twice as much but right now we're asking for 7.6 um the first year and 7.6 million yes part of the reason why this is that amount is because this also has a wage supplement program so the providers would be able to also increase do some wage supplements for their existing staff so they can participate in the wage structure that's within the apprenticeship model so what are you folks doing now for that one class that you have
091that one apprenticeship what about that how are you paying for that that one is being paid for um through some existing funds that the sponsoring agency has right now and how much is that I I don't I really don't know because s million is a lot in this time right now so yeah what would be the minimum you can run you know run a program that could be Statewide um not quite sure or where the greatest need is at this point yeah because at this I mean I'm just trying to be realistic sure yeah we and we tried to be realistic and proactive is not part of the uh budget right no it's not it's not it's a ad so that means something's got to come out out of the budget where do we take
092it from yeah yeah okay well that's something that was something we can before we get we get to conference yes your members any questions other questions no okay thank you thank you members the um okay um the recommendation numbers for house bills 549 house draft three for early learning apprenticeship grant program uh is already blank the amounts are blank in this um Bill and so the recommendation is to defect the date to uh July 31st 2050 and that uh we make Technical and nonsensitive amendments any discussion hearing none uh chair votes I for House Bill 549 HD3 For Hire Ed chair votes I Vice chair votes I Senator fukunaga excused Senator Hashimoto I Senator favella excused measures adopted thank you and same recommendation for the committee on education oh I'm sorry that's you okay okay
093House Bill 549 HD3 same recommendation for the committee on education shair Vol or House Bill 549 house draft three to pass with amendments uh any member voting no any member voting with reservations hearing none the three members present vote I excuse oh I'm sorry education um okay let me just go down Senator kidani hi Vice chair vsai Senator Hashimoto hi senator kuha Senator the court hi four five eyes recommendations adopted M chair and we are adjourned thank you