001Aloha good afternoon welcome to the Joint Committee on education and committee on agriculture and environment and we are here to hear one bill Senate Bill 659 relating to the Department of Education this bill exempts from the electronic procurement system the department of education's purchase of fresh local agricultural products and local value added processed agricultural or food products not exceeding $100,000 subject to certain requirements requires the Department of Education to establish guidelines for determining a geographic preference for locally sourced products thank [Music] you our list of testifiers first is superintendent Hayashi good afternoon chair chair gabard voice chair Kim andur this my name is Dean Deputy superintendent with Department of Education the department stands and is really testimony support this measure um also I'd like to clarify like this is a similar build that was heard
002last week Friday Senate Bill 1548 and I fail to um tell the the committee that this tool will be used for us to purchase things that are not currently on the vendor list like Po and Lio things so it's kind of a short-term fix that gives us more flexibility to buy local stuff that's currently not on the distrib the distributor's list thank you thank you Sharon herd chairperson Hawaii Department of Agriculture chair members of the committee on of the Department of Agriculture please stand Our Testimony offer supporting supporting the intent thank you SRE right mamoto executive director Hawaii Farm Bureau hello chair members of the Committees mamoto here the Hawaii Farm bu down on testimony in support thank you Brian Bonnie kokui administrator State procurement office good afternoon chairs Vice chairs members of the committee
003bonica hako administrator State procurement office will'll stand on our written testimony providing comments and recommendations but we do apologize we have made incorrect references to the section and page numbers but we will send you a corrected version after this meeting thank you available for questions thank you [Music] Bonnie we also have testimony from Ted Bolan Nancy Red Feather n Nancy Moser and Hunter heavin all in support are any of them here to testify thank you any additional testifiers present who wish to testify on this matter thank you members are there questions of any of the testifiers questions for de deal please thank you um why are they not on the this why AR these vendors on the list or why aren these what what what you said that these allows doe to procure because these
004things that you want to procure is not on the vendor list why aren't they on the vendor list I don't think we ever procured before it's like the Hawaii based products like POI Liu yeah but don't you supposed determine what the vendor's list is it wasn't put on the list in the past and we we're looking at that now but can't you put it on the list without a bill we we will but we're going to go to the RFP we cannot amend the RFP the the contract is already out but in the next time we issue it will have things that are locally grown so why do you need the bill because we haven't issued the RFP yet so in the inter room we can use the bill to purchase like up to $100,000
005of Po so when is the next RFP I think it's either it either went out or it's going to go out soon we're trying to see if we can amend it to include the boy and the locally grown products in it okay and if don't when is the next time you can do that could be next year the next cycle okay and if this bill if this bill passes it it won't pass until June or July July and then by the time you get up and running I mean it's like it seems like it's a temporary thing than it is a temporary thing yeah so why don't want to put in Statue what is the amount exceeding now that you can you can get without the limit is 25,000 25,000 you want to go all
006the way up to 100,000 okay thank you thank you Senator if I may um I was just going to speak to that that currently on the the small purchase contract we're only able to purchase up to $224,999 so for for U locally sourced product like POI and Limu that's all we can purchase this bill would then allow us to go up to $100,000 right but we talked about this last time about you folks are going to be purchasing individual things other than going to your vendor I mean isn't it more efficient that you're going to the vendor instead of you I don't know who in your department is going to be responsible for buying from all these different local small vendors we are we are looking at um com comprehensive package on how we can
007look to purchase more locally sourced product um this bill would support the department in helping us to purchase the type of foods that may not be on the list like deputy said things like poy and Limu and other local resource so that we can um start to amend our change our menu or what we're offering for students to support local resource you should go to your the vendor because you're going to need employees to have to now go and get from these individual vendors you know if you have 30 other kinds of local foods are you going to be procuring to 30 don't you that's why you have the large vendors to put it on their list so that you folks I mean you folks have enough things to do and and some of the
008things that you have to do you don't do it as well as you should be doing right I'm sorry to say but um and so therefore you know we got to try and make you more efficient instead of giving you all these little tiny tools that's going to add more to the work to the cost to to the taxpayers the last time we did the P at the 249 we we selected a distri a vendor who could distribute to the schools so there wasn't any um middleman we just bought it and then they provide it to the schools as you shared Senor came that as a tool this would allow the department to be more flexible and able to support more local product provide more local products to our students so it's really important for
009us want more local products you have a vendor now that if you put it on the vendor list that they can get these products correct right corre it's a long-term solution thank you okay thank you thank you members further questions so superintendent can you explain what the exactly what the change in procurement would be and do you have a list of these uh fresh local products thank you chair yes the um the the change in procurement currently uh for small purchase is the the limit for us to purchase for example po is up to uh $24,999 per purchase this would allow us to U raise that limit to up to $100,000 so it would allow us to quadruple the amount of product that we're local product that we're able to purchase okay but is this
010only for po or for all for for for other um other local value added Foods okay so this 24 99 per 24,999 per purchase is going to be up to 100,000,000 all local yes okay well for yes locally processed food in okay egg products thank you thank you forther questions number your question another decoy thank you so when you guys do the purchase so say you going to purchase po which schools you guys going to designate that to I believe the um and I ask Deputy CH to help me on this one I believe we did we did a um this past year we did a uh sampling of Po uh in one of our um complex areas we weren't able to purchase Statewide uh so in one complex area up to the $24,999 uh
011what we want to do is actually to expand that to offer these type of locally grown product to other students uh how the the the individual complexes are selected um I can turn that over to Deputy Cho we can get more information back to you on that so what if I said this because one of the schools had asked you guys that they wanted to do their own meals and they had POI and they had AA but you guys didn't refuse them they're um Senator I'm not familiar with the particular situation kalapu um Charter oh Charter School um it's not daily they wouldn't they wouldn't come under that charter school would be under um if I'm not mistaken under Charter School commission not under the department of head charter schools are separate from us but
012you guys had told the the email went to you guys and you guys denied it for them to do the setup of their own meals oh we can we can get back to you on that sener definitely let me take a look into that cuz yeah I I believe that um CH schools are able to procure under their own um sources under the charter school commission che check your email because I made sure the email came back like that cuz I was wondering why you guys wouldn't allow them since they would be able to Source locally for the smaller schools we'll checking it back to you definitely thank you thanks for that thank you chair um superintendent so the 20 24,999 is per vendor per area for what what how does that work if if
013I'm not mistaken senator I can get back to you the specifics on that um I believe it was for that one time for that one complex area up to the $24,999 so if you do three different complex areas it would be 24.99 comple what we what we don't want to do we want to avoid any any kind of partialing so we want to be sure that we follow procurement code so this $100,000 threshold then would help us to um to provide additional is it per vendor or per combine combined together I I believe it's per vendor but I I will double check per vendor so is there a PO vendor in Hawaii that can can provide $100,000 worth of Po there are I believe and I get back to C I believe there are a
014number of vendors that um are able to provide I can get you the names of the they can provide 100,000 on their own uh I can get you I can get you the names of the companies the providers that are able to help provide um that amount of point I think one of the things too that we're looking at is as we're able to move forward with locally sourced um produce and are able to support our local farmers that will um give them hopefully we can help to provide the confidence that because the department is able to purchase from them um on a regular basis then uh that would help farmers know that they can go ahead and pro um produce because there's a market that the department will be able to purchase that what
015you use your vendor for so right so so this does give us a flexibility so that's what you use your vendor for so I'm saying the the 24,999 is it per vendor so if you move it to $100,000 that means that you can buy $100,000 worth of Co from one vendor and the question is do you have a vendor that can even provide $100,000 worth a c don't you want to give it to different different companies to help the small definitely leverage as as much as possible for for a vendor um if they're able to provide then I think that's great if they're not then you know hopefully we can provide confidence for them so that they'll be able to um to plant and to produce up to that that if you want to provide
016po to Maui or po to m not necessarily you're going to go to one vendor maybe on a waffle right cuz then won't you want to support the the vendor on these neighbor Islands yes right yes and so again you don't need $100,000 then a limit for that well I'm not sure how much uh each of the respective islands are able to produce so the if we have the threshold uh it's up to $100,000 so right now it's currently at $24,999 up to $100,000 then would give us flexibility to be able to support our local farmers up into that amount up to that amount okay I keep to hear when you say support our Farmers because we do support them and that's why we have the vendors but you want this flexibility which concerns me
017because of various issues but I'll leave it at that thank you thank you I would think that though um in specific cases like wildfires or Etc that this would without this you would be limited on what you can get from a vendor that's maybe not in a a situation where wildfires took away their crops so I I do understand the purpose of the bill Senator hush superintendent I guess so so this is just for for State funds then because you you have for school lunch you have the federal funds so do you have to follow State procurement for the federal funds or federal has all their own procurement standards let me check Federal USDA has own procurement standards so then so this is solely we we're going to we're going to draw down all local
018stuff on the state funds then is that the plan for this one it's a shortterm well we're just trying to figure out what what the plan is cuz if you open up the state side that's fine but then there's this whole other pot of federal funds that you pay for school lunch for and if if you're going to draw all the state funds with this local local food that's that's fine but we need to know what the if that's your intent because I think what to Senator skim Point why she's pointing always to the vendors is because at some point you have to be able to make sure that it's Federal compliant if you're going to draw in the Federal side right and so if you're going to sell directly to the doe you might
019be able to use your state funds and draw down the state funds but they may not be Federal compliance so then you're not drawing down the federal side um Senor if I may I I believe um we did check into that and as long as there are there are I believe and I can get you what what they are I believe there are four um categories that as a state agency we need to be taking a look at in terms of federal compliance and USDA as long as they meet those four areas and I can get you those four areas um then we are they meet the Federal requirements and then we would then would be able to draw down federal funds uh so that we're not so that state fund not pay for so
020I guess I guess the the challenge with the federal side is then the farmers have to be federally compliant right so to Senator Kim's Point that's why you have to have these third party vendors to get them compliant because the farmers aren't going to be compliant themselves and that's why they if you're going to use State funds it's one thing but if you're going to use federal funds it's another thing so so that's why I think it's it's a convers that we just need to understand and I think that's why we had this conversation last weekend and that's why you peace meal it and we don't understand all the moving Parts it's really hard for us to kind of put it together to really understand what what is the end goal uh because I as
021as you know we we tried to sell to the D but it's not worth it for our family to do that because we don't want to get federally compliant right and so so okay you're going to draw down the state funds that's one thing but we don't know what what all the moving parts are in my mind thank you definitely take all of that into consideration when we do this and your failure to plan does not constitute a bill because you didn't put it into your procurement because you failed to plan for these vendors or these types of local locally produced Foods or um products right so you failed to put it in the procurement or you failed to put it in the contract again now you want to come in with a build to
022to cure something [Music] temporarily I take that in mind future thank you so so superintendent just to clarify that uh the current procurement allows you $24,999 per purchase and this bill would raise it to $100,000 per purchase right okay so um is that specific to um certain Goods or you know that we need to raise it this in this it would be used for things that the vendor doesn't provide right now it's un available to the vendors that we're dealing okay like the PO or Liu something so we're trying to add it to the next RFP so that it's included in the list that distributor can you can order off the list basically so I mean I guess I'm looking at the jump from you know basically 25,000 to 100,000 and I I think this
023is what the Senators are trying to get at is that why such a big jump has the the increase been 400% or is that what we're anticipating in the next couple years so you don't have to come back can you explain that I think the original pilot when we did the the smoke purchase in 20 249 um it was successful speak to the mic the first purchase when we bought the the small purchase agreement at the 249 um it was successful that the kids really like the PO so we're trying to expand the reach now get into more schools and this was kind of the language we talked to the um State procurement office B thank you members further questions Senator Detroit thank you chair so you know there's not very many people today that
024do puya how many of them is food safety certified we can get back to you on that sh only because if you Tak it from the state and the federal level they all got to follow food safety guidelines would it be that would it be limo and I know on that base will you guys help them to be food safety certified being that you guys want to increase because that's the biggest challenge um I I believe we're working with different organizations uh whether it be Department of egg um not sure EVP there other there are partners that we're working with that help to certify our farmers and and help them become food food safety certified thank you thank you chair and just for clarification then whatever products you purchases has to be food safety certified
025correct thank you one more question say we procure fresh local agricultural products and local value does that mean that you you cannot purchase anything that is not local with this amount it say may not sh it is May that's another concern the intent the intent of the bill Senator is to for us to purchase local so the question so we can change that because yeah I don't want folks going out and buying all this other stuff because now it goes up to 100,000 or 50,000 no no but I I disagree sen only because if something happens a wildfire or whatever wipes out our crops I think we're going to have to buy from some he sells well yeah but that's why we have the vendors we already have the vendors these are only for those
026those products supposingly that is not on the vendor list right that the lenders can't the vendors can't get for you the larger vendor that you go through correct this is not a wildfire stuff so Senator once the U once the contracts are cut with the vendor then um if I'm I'm not mistaken I believe it's a yearly contract uh so if the contracts were already cut for the 25 26 school year then um without this bill we wouldn't be able to purchase up to just for one year just yes for one year but but for us and you hav you're not even sure that it's finalized we you can amend it but for us the um the year is really important because we're really serious about trying to get as quickly possible up to our
02730 our 30% and we we're far from it so we really want to move in that direction well I was hoping you've been moving in that direction for the last couple years and not wa to the last minute right okay thank you other questions members if not thank you thank you okay anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure if [Applause] [Music] not okay can we um recess calling the meeting back to order members we are in decision making on Senate Bill 659 relating to the Department of Education which exempts from the electronic procurement system the Department of Education purchase of fresh local agricultural products and local value added processed agricultural or food products not exceeding $100,000 subject to certain requirements requires the Department of Education to establish guidelines for determining a geographic presence
028for locally Source Products members the chair's recommendation is to pass this measure any comments any questions yeah I I'll be voting chair because first of all I think that word May in there for allows the department to not just purchase local Valu foods and products and this is a temporary we shouldn't be using a statue to take care of something temporarily that they didn't do um in their previous contract and so now they're coming in for a Band-Aid fix on this and then we did take up a bill very similar to this and we deferred it just this past week so with that thank you thank you m further questions recommendation of the chairs who pass Senate Bill 659 chair votes I chair votes I Vice chair votes no Senator Hashimoto no Senator kuha I
029Senator dord I three eyes two nose VES adopted um sorry I forgot to add something so we have to retake the vote that uh we are passing with amendments but we're defecting the date to July 1st 20150 those amendments at anyone wishing to change their vote hearing none three eyes in favor two not recommendations adopted same recommendation for aen chair votes I any discussion chair votes I Senate Bill 659 passing with amendments chair votes I Vice chair votes I sen decoit reservations Senator rhods excuse Senator AWA I chair you have four in favor motion is adopted thank you members thank you this meeting is AJ good afternoon calling to order the 302 p.m. meeting of the committee on education welcome to the senate committee on education today is Monday February 10th 2025 this is our
0303:2 pm. agenda and we are in hearing room 229 this meeting including the audio and video of remote participants is being streamed live on YouTube you will find links to viewing options for all Senate meetings on the live and On Demand video page of the legislature website this Zoom meeting and YouTube live stream events will be will include the 3:2 p.m. agenda for this committee on education in the unlikely event that we must abruptly end this hearing due to Major technical difficulties the committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Wednesday February 12 2025 at 3:00 p.m. in this room 229 and a public notice will be posted on the legislator's website i' like to to take this time to remind our testifiers that due to time restrictions on on our hearings we will
031be limiting testimony to 1 minute per testifier per bill for people participating remoted please remain muted and video disabled until shortly before it is your turn to testify when I call your name unmute yourself and your time will begin after your minute is completed staff will mute you so that we can move this hearing along in an orderly and efficient matter first on the agenda is Senate Bill 894 sd1 relating to education appropriates funds to the Department of Education to F to fulfill the local Farm to school Farm to school meal goal requiring 30% of the food served in public schools to consist of locally sourced products do we have any testif sorry okay to testify superintendent Kei aashi please good afternoon K Vice chair Kim Department of Education the department stands on its written
032testimony and support this measure thank you for opportunity testify thank you Brian m mamoto executive director Hawaii Farm Bureau thank you chair the Hawaii Farm will stand on his testimony in support thank you we also have Janine Mariano Hawaii food policy in support not present Nancy Red Feather testifying in support for Ohana onapa Nancy D Moser also an individual in support members are there any additional test is wishing to speak members any questions please so the funding that this bill asked for is for what purpose the Department's not asking for the funding the bill has a blank for funding there General funds blank amount of money to modernize the kitchens in the um the different cafeterias so that's what the money is for correct not to purchase or not to no it's more for equipment
033cuz um hasn't been a lot of scratch cooking in the kitchens which um do we know which schools uh no we we trying to figure out that right now so how do you know how do you estimate the amount of money that that's going to be required um we're going to have to provide that at a later date because we're still in the process of trying to determine which cafeterias need what kind of upgrade so where are you in that evaluation process um there was a study done a few years ago so we're trying to update that right now find out where we are on the cafeteria okay the um the mandate to reach 30% locally sourced products by 2030 uh was passed back in 21 so since 2021 to now only now you're trying
034to figure out the equipment and what is needed if I may Senator I I I believe that this bill also is to um is to look at the the regional kitchen that uh we are developing in Central District um and to look at um funding for that same uh same type of kitchen in various complex areas across our state uh which includes a Hawaii District Mai district and Kai District in addition to in honu and and the four districts in h this bill doesn't say anything about Central kitchens don't we have a separate bill for Central kitchens I believe it all just one second it is um related to the regional kitchens don't we have a separate bill for regional kitchens after sen kak Department of Education so this the way we're reading the bill
035it's very akin to that bill about Regional kitchens but the way we're reading it and the way the both the Preamble and the way the funding is uh parceled out to these different areas our our understanding of the build is that is for funding for regional kites well it doesn't say anything in here about that so just a preamble related to giving uh uh buying the required um equipment that would allow for as uh Deputy UA said earlier about doing some of that scratch cooking that's what would be happening at those Regional kitchens right but the regional kitchens is a huge investment a huge amount of money which I understand has a different budgetary and a different bill this bill seems to be to improve the different School cafet areas so that they can have
036equipment in there to warm up the foods and so forth so not necessarily these are going to be Regional kitchens in these four areas that is noted in the bill so you need you guys need to get your message clear and straight because you can't talk about Regional kitchens here when we have Regional kitchens there so we're putting funding here and funding there and then the money comes together we don't know what happens to that money money there's no accountability we appreciate that y yeah but you guys keep coming up with these bills that are just I'm sorry it's very difficult to because if I add up all all the amount of money that that Doe is asking for all these different programs and and and um proposals is huge and then there's no accountability
037for that so it should be made clear exactly what you folks will be spending the money on should the monies be appropriated cuz it just say necessary for these years and it talks about meeting your 30 2030 uh Farm to school meals it doesn't really and it mentions some equipment but it doesn't mention anything about Central kitchens so can we get a can we get a list of what the schools and what complexes and what needs to be upgraded so we can know what the cost is I mean shouldn't that come first before you come in and ask for something this General and again we are actually trying to read into the Preamble of the bill and understanding what's happening with the bill itself um so we were more than happy to continue this conversation
038with um other fellow fellow legislators your fellow legislators to figure out what exactly is being asked for that but we are just trying to read into both the Preamble and the way the funding is um being appropriated in the bill but we're happy to continue having those discussions so this is not your bill correct right but you're supporting it correct because anytime the legislature willing to give you money you guys will take it right correct well it is driving us towards our our goal of trying to increase our our 30 by 30% so we're open to you guys whatever have this goal back to 2021 when we passed it right and so it's like didn't you have a general plan on the whole thing instead of coming in Peace by peace Me by peace me
039I think we keep developing that as we move through yes we would love to have had all everything in place and I I think all our ducks are line but um we are trying to figure that out now and move more towards that um we do apologize for not having that completely fleshed out as of then but moving forward now I think we have a good team in place that are trying to get towards that you members further questions thank you moving on Senate Bill 187 relating to a library in Eva Beach requires the Department of Education to transfer the Eva Beach Public and school library from the state public library system to James Campbell High School testify superintendent afterno chair kidani Vice chair Kim din uh Deputy superintendent with the Department stands on it
040written testimony offering comments on this measure the department wishes to support the desire of the School Community to transfer the ever Beach Library to James Campbell High School but acknowledges the challenges that this could entail such as Staffing and library library outside of school hours Staffing the library outside of school hours thank you for the opportunity to testify MERS questions thank you and huchi Department of Attorney General good afternoon chair kidani Vice chair Kim members and huchi Department of the Attorney General um a couple of items that we noted in our testimony one um it's our understanding um well from reading the Preamble it lists the hours of the library but it's our understanding that those hours have recently been changed so that information should be updated in the Preamble of the bill um also
041the bill states that the doe shall transfer the library from the State Library System to the school but it's unclear from our reading what this transfer entails one if the intent of the bill is to transfer operation and management of the library to the school so that the school has authority to change the library's hours or to otherwise operate and manage the library then this should be stated explicitly in the bill um if the intent though is to transfer ownership of the library property and that Authority is actually with the Board of Education and not the State library system or the Department of Education um finally the section three of the bill talks um speaks to the transfer um relating to the employees and we noted that the State library system and the Department of
042Education are separate entities for purposes of employment so to ensure Clarity that section should be revised to transfer employees from one agency to another rather than transferring employees within an agency thank you I'll be available for questions I know you probably didn't see the principal support so the reason why I say that is because the operations and the maintaining of the school would follow under the school Campbell High School two the property is actually doe property it doesn't belong to the State Library if you look at the um actual map of the school is on school campus that's the reason why it says Public School library not just public so it's on the school campus and with the jurisdiction of uh transferring of workers uh we have a very shortage of librarians right now and
043there's other areas that is closed because of lack of a Librarians so the suggestion was that the school would um I know you got the current uh Library hours 12 to 7 12 to7 12 to 7 p.m. Monday 12: to7 p.m. on Tuesday 9 to4 Wednesday 9: to4 on Thursday 11 to4 on Friday Saturdays and Sundays close so the community was asking and for a while while on weekends when it's supposed to be more utilized for students that cannot utilize the library during the weekdays because of the scheduling that they have here school is on session at 7:45 they cannot be in a library till 12:00 p.m. okay and then they restrictions that they they have to bring their own librarian to utilize the library when I was going to school not too long ago
044um we used to go in there lunchtime before school after school hang out there I never used to study I used to just go watch my friend study but the bottom line is it was accessible and and it was accessible by the school on the school side it's lock so transferring those things I understand what you're saying but there is a lot more to that and I understand you guys concern but it it would be more utilized in a sense it's not taking away Community Access and that's what the principal highlighted and the students that came see me that wanted me to reintroduce this bill so it's not taking away anything from from the public is just transferring ownership maintenance because the library hasn't been painted for 94 years um there's no grass no grass
045is being cut maintainance of the parking lot is really bad so there's a lot of things that the school was willing to take over not telling the public that they couldn't use it and probably the public would have more access if the school maintains it and have the operations to run it because they would open it up from 700 a.m. in the morning so when the bell rings the kids can go go to um class so those are the things that little bit what people not understanding on the bill thank you thank you Senator thank you thank you for the questions thank you Stacy alge State librarian chair and vice chair members of the committee um Our Testimony uh highlights multiple errors within the bill and I urge the um committee to really listen to
046the voices of the community that feel very strongly about this Library um I would also like to address um some of the things that Senator faella has brought up the library is open to students at 7:30 a.m. and it is available to the students of the high school um when there is a school person present um the library is again the hours have been changed and we're very excited about that and we did get input from the community on those hours um we do know that people would like to see weekend hours and we'll be analyzing the system hours across the state to review how we can better serve and have better hours across the state but this is a library that is utilized by the community and it does matter Mahalo I'm happy to
047answer any questions you might have thank you MERS questions yeah did you get to see um principal Le um support letter no I did not so just to let you know um students teachers and the principal that attends Campbell High School I understand you guys saying it's utilized by the community a lot but it's not Monday through Friday when they do open the library parking lot is empty and I and I and I brought this up before so the amount of public that use it not saying that they're not going to get to use it doesn't weigh out on the fact that the students need to have access not because the school going to hire a librarian why does the school have to hire a librarian when did that change it hasn't changed it did
048when I was going to school in 1986 school did not have a librarian it was a librarian that was at the at there that was run by the state and we could utilize Campbell High School never had the own librarian that's why want to ask principal Lee I wanted to know when because when I was going school we didn't have that we didn't have to have a librarian all we needed was a note from the teacher go to the desk over there punch them in the time we went there and then when we leave we punch the time when we go out we never had that and then you guys had a security where that security gate St that don't work anymore used to be there just just to let you know the library hasn't
049changed since 1986 everything is there and most of the things are not working we cannot utilize the area that used to have the planting and the greenery and everything you guys have storage with chairs and Des in the back so the library is not being utilized in a in a capacity that is not only uh um accessible to the community and in a in a safe way it ain't everything is old in there you know what I'm saying so we had all of this time to upgrade a lot of stuff in the library and and we didn't and you know the thing is I understand you guys concerned about their jurisdiction but that's all it is is and then you guys have a shortage you guys have a shortage of liberians on our neighbor Islands
050yes yeah I thought you told me when the last time I talked to you told me we had shortages of libraries the last time islandwide across the state but mostly neighbor Islands okay no that's not what you ask ask I ask you if we have a shortage of liberians you said only on the other islands and mostly mostly on the neighor on the neighbor Islands but you guys have one statewide right yes okay but our but our hours are then some of you guys ours operation is according to that accessibility from Librarians and that's why a lot of libraries close across the state because you guys don't have enough staff well they're not closed across the state but they'll have fewer hours depending on they have staff available okay so when these hours are open
051and Clos um the question I have 12 to7 from 7 in the morning to 12:00 who's in the library the library assistant who serves the like the students okay so the library assistants in there from the reason why I concern is because we just not too long ago the librarian just the Librarians that I seen you on the librarian across the state had a pay raise that nobody in the states said anything about you guys getting one pay raise but with the pay raise that was introduced then we had lot then after we introduced the pay raise or you guys got the pay raise we had Cuts in our libraries because of uh a lack of Staffing so shouldn't we had concentrate on not giving everybody one raise and try to figure out get more
052Staffing so we can actually have the thing open on Saturdays maybe not Sundays but Saturdays I believe those are determined by the union negotiations I don't determine how much salary are our St not saying I saying we understand that you guys would get have the raids coming in whatever not saying they don't deserve but nobody came to uh body to tell us that reason why these libraries are not on Saturdays and certain communities don't have it that many hours is because of Staffing if we could help you with Staffing to staff these libraries so that they can be open at the time when the students should be using it not I mean I'm not saying 7:00 in good p.m. is it's all good but the Staffing hours um you're talking about some of them is
0538 hours some of them is less 11 to4 is Less close on Saturdays the the hours that you have there are not correct so they're eight hours they're eight hours a day so it's uh Monday and Tuesday it's 12: to 7: and then it's uh them down down so Friday you guys open up earlier than 11 to4 Friday is 11 to 4 so staff can um can catch up and we also do training for our staff okay Thursday 9th to floor I believe so I have it here so when when the 7:00 to 8:30 or 8:00 those days days that you open later 12:00 12:00 9:00 9:00 11: a.m. you don't think you can put in your guys training for your library or the people at the library on those days because you take you
054on whole day right from 11: to 4: all these hours from 7: to um 10:00 11:00 there's nothing happening there so you guys couldn't C andate better to have training for your staff on those days that you're not open early well the staff only worked can only work 8 hours a day so they can only come in at 11:00 to work till 7: so it's say to 4 the 11: to 4 they're they're that's where we do training on Fridays 11 that's what I'm saying so the days that you comeing in what I'm saying is that you guys are training um every Friday uh yes sometimes and then other times we're using it to for staff to catch up because they are working on materials they're making orders they're moving materials I just think no
055used to do before okay thank you appreciate it question so can you clarify again what are the hours Monday is 12: to 7: it's actually 7 hours so Monday to um uh Monday and Tuesday are 12:00 to 7: uh Wednesdays are 9: to 4 Tuesdays or Thursdays are 900 to 4: and Fridays are 11: to4 it's 33 hours a week and what about on weekends um they currently don't have weekend hours no weekend hours but we know the community would like to have weekend hours so again we're doing an analysis Statewide of all of our hours to see what we can do to better the hours across the state so the school shares the library because they don't have their own Library they share this Library we share the space so the library is the
056public so um in the 60s and 70s they built 12 public in school libraries uh when the department um Ed and the libraries had a divorce we took those libraries with us so we've been responsible entirely for those spaces and we've continued to provide Library services not only to the community but to students out of the 12 libraries in the beginning there was a school librarian in every Library along with any other assistants so that they could provide services directly to the staff today we have one librarian in one of the schools um there is a position at Campbell she retired one or two years ago and they're not filling that position so if they had a liian they could do more for the students because our focus is on the P patrons but also
057supporting all all patrons but also supporting the students so the remedy is for the school to hire its librarian then they can alter the hours accordingly that you you don't already do absolutely okay do you well you probably don't know I guess D needs to needs to ask answer this question thank you thank you yeah so is there funding for this position Li librarian I have to get backy on it I don't know right now so or was the money taken out of this and used for something else and then the position is there but no funding I need to get back vacancy savings I can get back to you I'll go check on what the status of the position and the funding so the um Senator Kim the school would bringing out their funding
058to fund the position that she's talking about but they don't get to go there far as I know they don't get the key um and they only can go when the library is open no I don't think so I think she said I think so so they can get the key so they have the key right now if they want to go in the library they can open the library they have an employee who has a key that can help them get into the libr right now yes during the school hour is it's open to the to the to the students then it contradicts what sen um what um principal Lee is talking about about the current un utilizing not being able to have access um to the students the teachers who utilize it we
059have an impact significant impact on students and teachers being um unutilized cannot use it so so whose requirement is it to have the librarian the school or the Li Li I I was looking to see where that actually started but I think the idea when they built it was that you would always have a school librarian who could work with a students in the public library to work with the public as a whole so it does help because students have particular needs and you're talking about critical thinking skills and reading um that our public libraries are focused on everybody so not just students so it's to Campbell's benefit to fund this position because they don't have the cost of a Library within their school like other schools have that cost for full-on library right Absol
060be able to partner with the State library and then have somebody that's specifically there for the students benefit yes and we didn't have problems before when we had a librarian because our Librarians work together and we continue to make the meeting rooms accessible for um weeks of testing that have to happen so it's just a two years since that librarian retired that they haven't filled that position M so can you get back to us immediately I'll check on that so Stacy um on all the other school libraries do you guys have any issues yes we do with um there are challenges because of um sometimes the campus is closed down because of um uh they can have a a lockdown so then the library won't be available to the public during that time um there
061are issues with um when projects are happening during when school's out sometimes we don't know when electrical is going to be cut so we lose power and our internet for the public so we we try to work why is that why can't that be relay to you by the school it's just misfiring of communication so we've been working on actually we have an Mo MOA that a draft MOA that has been written with Eva with Eva Beach and Campbell and we're waiting for the principal um to have to give us more information he's been asking for a key directly for himself and we give keys to the people who work in the library I finally don't don't know why this has to come to our attention why the do can't work with the l h
062the position can you guys figure it out yourselves thank you very much it's done thank you thank you okay sill 757 relating to libraries requires reasonable terms in license agreements for digital literary materials between libraries and Publishers defines prohibited items for license agreements between libraries and Publishers declares offer of a license agreement with a prohibited term and un and unfair or deceptive act makes a license agreement with a prohibited term void and unconscionable creates right of action by libraries Library officers and bers Department of Attorney General good afternoon Cher kidani Vice Jim members and herui Department of the Attorney General um in our testimony we've offered some clarifying amendments um one is to ensure consistency with a federal law that provides libraries with certain rights to reproduce copyrighted Works we've provided um a suggested Revision
063in our testimony also um to clarify that the bill doesn't restrict the Publisher's right to choose whether or not to distribute we've provided a suggested Amendment as well and also um uh to we've suggested a non non-impairment savings Clause to make sure that certain requirements in the bill would not be interpreted as impairing existing agreements thank you I'll be available for questions members questions thank you an Stacy Aldridge thank you chair um we stand on our written testimony I would just like to re reiterate that this issue is of particular importance to the state of Hawaii because digital books help us to create more access to materials across all of our islands where we cannot buy physical items for every branch and every Library I'm happy to answer any questions you may have thank you
064members questions yes St I you have questions why would this measure needed so U with ebooks so we have digital we have digital books I mean physical books the Publishers have created a whole new model for um digital books and so when we buy physical books it's a onetime fee we own the book we can use it circulate as many times as we want to with digital books um they have decided it's a separate kind of item and they have different models that they use so we have to pay over and over again for the same title so instead of being able to buy multiple copies of a digital um book and circulate them one at a time we H we buy them but we have to pay $50 a minimum of usually $50 to
065buy access to one book and we're only leasing that book we don't have rights after it depends on the model and the publisher in some cases it's 26 circulations and then we have to buy it again um if it's another another model is you have it for one year so um it's it assumes that libraries have these unending pits of money that we can keep buying these digital books over and over again to make sure that they're accessible and it's not a a model that is viable for any library and we're facing this issue um across the United States questions so so Stacy if you guys are facing this across the United States what are other states libraries doing several states have tried to pass similar bills um uh to um create an opportunity to
066have books uh be more affordable for libraries to purchase and make them available um most of them have not passed um in the neighboring states so Maryland has tried to pass um Washington state New York uh right now Rhode Island and Connecticut are trying to pass um uh rules to allow um to to try to get the Publishers to allow libraries to be be able to afford digital materials thank you so is this what this bill tries to do for our library yes thank you thank you sty how do you get the authors to agree I mean this is a bill that we're sting but how do you know why would they agree to this so um there are different um there are sub authors who agree that the book should be affordable they're usually
067the the authors who get a nice amount of funding they're usually the more popular authors who do get money um there is a challenge for authors who are not as well known they do not have um as uh good of agreements with their Publishers on how much they get per ebook that gets circulated so it's more of a challenge for them but to me that's a issue between the publisher and the the author but how does this affect them because we we cannot legislate to them right I mean this is legislate within the government and the state of Hawaii so how would all these authors abide by this so most authors have a publisher and the Publishers are the ones who create the um agreements with libraries in order to have access to the materials
068so it would have to be a three-way conversation about what's the best way to make sure that there's access but to also honor the the um authors because we're not trying to take money out of the author's Pockets we support authors every day we're advertising them every day in all of our libraries okay so you have to excuse me I'm not that up on how you negotiate with Publishers but because this is purpose of this act to ensure that Hawaii's public libraries can acquire and lend digital literary materials on reasonable terms and preserve the ability to serve as vital public resources I agree with that I I listen to ebooks but I'm wondering how does the how does this law change the publishers how they how they deliver or get the authors to give it
069to us at a lower price is this a mandate them to do it it's not a mandate but it is to encourage them to create pricing that is Affordable for libraries and how does that how how does this do encouraging um BEC because it requires that they don't put certain stipulations within the the way they lease their books or sell their books to us and if they don't agree if they don't abide by the restrictions then what then they can choose not to provide access which is a challenge that would be a challenge for us right so that currently is the is the process right I mean either we negotiate with them and they agree or they they they don't they don't lend us their books or whatever so I'm not sure how this bill
070changes that that's what I'm trying to I think find out the bill is trying to make them play nice yeah but it doesn't mean they have to right it doesn't mean they have to yeah right so that's why I'm saying if they decide not to how does this SCH change that that because they have the same ability now to walk from letting us any of their books right I mean and you get to say no this is too expensive I'm not going to I'm not going to allow my readers so people like me who want to get all the new best sellers are not going to have that but you know that's I think it also um hopefully Begins the conversation that other states have tried um to pass um I've worked with Publishers at
071the national level I talked with overdrive overdrive is a company that can consolidates and they try to get better pricing for libraries but we're still in this model of uh either pay I think what they're doing is they're also heading towards payers sip which we've seen there's another uh product called hoopla and you can download any book that's available but it's we pay every time somebody downloads something and so my concern is if we don't start making the Publishers aware that this is a problem and we really need to do something they will they're not going to work with us ideally we probably need to work at the national level the Copyright Act of 1971 I believe it is or or 73 hasn't been cracked open in a long time and that copyright determines ownership
072and how things work so it gives libraries fair use so when we buy a book it's ours we can sell it lend it however many times I'm also encouraging that um certainly but again I know we're passing something that really has no no effect of Law and are you working with the Congressional Delegation on the federal level would have more impact than us I have been talking with Senator hono um and um I'm working at the national level with other libraries um there are libraries that are State libraries I just saw New Jersey um the state Librarians sent to me their law that they're trying to pass they're actually trying to gather a committee to do a study on all the issues around ebooks and bring together all the players to have a conversation so
073we can find a find a resolution and I think that's a very that's a good way to go actually so when you buy a paperback are there restrictions on how you can utilize the paperback no fair use lets us we own it so we can give it to the friends to sell we give it you can give it away it's it's sort of can you have somebody read it and create our own eBooks from the paperback no that would be copyright infringement yeah but you can you take the books you can give the books once you buy it away but you can't do anything where yeah and so digital books we can't we can't uh lend out more than the times they let us lend them out I I think the argument too is their
074assumption is um if they don't charge a lot for an ebook then um authors will lose out but the reality is we buy multiple copies of everything already in paper we would buy multiple copies of digital books um and we do now we try to but they're at $50 a hit it's a lot when I go on it say three copies 50 people waiting you have a three Monon wait on it exactly and and then it's not uh the investment is the leasing of that book because after a certain amount of time we don't own that book anymore so we've lost an investment but we created access questions members thank you thank you is there anyone else here wishing to testify in this Mission please come forward oh chair Vice chair members of the committee
075my name is John Clark theii and I am a published author of Five Books some of which include ebooks uh I stand in support of this bill uh libraries are a public good the use of their books are good and I believe is the state's responsibility to protect that public good uh to your point Senator Kim uh things may not go the way we want them to go but I believe in a matter of shall we say negotiation uh it's best to set that standard and let the Publishers rise to that level so I am disappointed I could not provide testimony on 187 earlier I spent quite a bit of time typing up comments thank you thank you anyone else here wishing to testify this anybody else no all right Embers forther question okay moving
076on did you submit your your written testimony for the previous I did not can you can turn it in if you have it Senate Bill 799 freedom to read this bill requires the Department of Education to select materials for inclusion circulation and exclusion in school library collections according to certain criteria requires a Depart of Education to upold the freedom to read prohibits the Department of Education from excluding books based on search and criteria requires the state Librarians to select materials for inclusion circulation and exclusion in school library collections according to certain criteria requires the state librarian to uphold the freedom to read prohibits the state Librarian from excluding books based on seting criteria okay to test ify Department of Education Department of Education I'm sorry thank sorry aloh Cher kidani Vice chair Kim and members
077of the committee a Terry usima assistant superintendent of the office of curriculum instructional design I'm testifying on behalf of the Department of Education the department stands on its written testimony which provides comments on this measure the department has some requested amendments to ensure that all staff including non-certified Librarians have access to clear standardized guidelines specific to school library collections thank you for the opportunity to testify thank you Stacy alridge hello long time no see um hspls stands on its written testimony in support of s SP 799 with amendments our mission is to inspire curiosity and create opportunities for everyone to read learn and connect um the hoi State library is dedicated to building collections that consist of accurate information and tell the stories and create voice for everyone and um public libraries have the responsibility
078to support the freedom to read and to ensure access to materials that individuals and families want and need to support their um information educational and creative needs we are aware that values and acceptance of materials vary and we continue to support individuals and families rights to choose by checking out only materials that are most appropriate for them thank you I'm happy to answer any questions you may have thank sty Kim Cy Aloha my name is Kim Cordy I'm testifying on behalf of Aloha Freedom Coalition 20,000 followers this bill is unbelievable um I think it is the term that's used for the bill itself is very interesting the freedom to read this these graphic books that are going to be allowed to be introduced to the library I think is a an absolute um travesty on
079our children I'm not sure if you have children I have children and I have grandchildren and if you've seen the graphic pictures of these books every person that I've shown them to has been just appalled if if people want to go that direction in their viewing there's other places to to find those types of um those types of books this this is absolutely an assault on our schools this is not education and with that a yield members question members questions next Savannah Mandola good afternoon chair afterno good afternoon cherish Kim afternoon cherish um so for me uh with this bill being passed again like what she has shared if you had seen the graph graphi of this literature um that is about to or it has been fluctuating throughout the community public school or public
080libraries you would be appalled yourselves for me it I oppose it it's just it's where I'm at right now um with that being said if that's the Le if that is the rightful way of get giving it to um sending it out to our children you might as well give them the pornography books you know what I'm saying I mean everybody here in this room I mean can can actually say would you give that to a child and call educational um from a background that I grew up in to where I'm at today they only see the auto show this is from trauma trauma abandonment all of that but to give it and place it upon innocent lives that that's what un called for he's setting one he's setting an example for the Next Generation
081for do whatever you please to help with everybody else that's exactly what we're going to show share with them if this bill is pass so I oppose thank you for your thank you [Music] questions please next to testify Tara Gregory aloh Al Aloha kak I'm Tara Malia Gregory umala for allowing me to speak on S SP 799 I have an education and background in child development and Neuroscience and as a former Middle School teacher current coach and Mentor I strongly oppose this bill as it stands due to concerns about age inappropriate content although it may have not been the int ition of those proposing the bill various overtly sexual material has found its way in our school curriculum and Library shelves I advocate for the freedom to read but we have to protect our Ki
082I propose three amendments on page two lines 10 and 11 or page five line 18 if you could Define age appropriate content with a tiered system according to developmental stages to prevent premature exposure to explicit material secondly insert mandatory parental consent on page four line six to involve parents in their child's reading choices not limited to the Department of Education alone and finally establish a local review board on page five lines 10 through 20 to include Educators psychologists Librarians parents and community members in material evaluation prior to materials being submitted that's sexual in nature as you may be aware peer-reviewed studies such as the one just done August 2024 by the American College of pediat Pediatricians they found that premature exposure to overtly sexual material has been directly linked to developmental emotional and psychological dysfunction
083violent Behavior teen pregnancy suicide and child trafficking uh Mahalo for considering these amend ments to safeguard our children while preserving educational Freedom if these amendments aren't possible I strongly oppose this bill members questions Mahalo is there anyone else here wishing to testify proceed okay um first I'm a child of God and I'm here to you know represent some small voices my name is Nelson sua um I oppose this bill SB 977 um I come from a family that has done over 230 years of prison time I've witnessed my mom at a 10 years old punched over the second floor rail broke her neck and her back the murdered law was dropped because of my brother so I'm not sharing this just to edify or glor glorify anything but it's to let you know I understand
084what the darkness looks like and this bill is dark and my concern as a parent as a grandfather is that this will be a gateway to something even worse where someone might introduce a big bill that allows adults to have sex with underage kids and that needs to stop you know the teaching of sex should be left to the parents and I feel like those things are trying to be taken away now so I oppose s SP 977 and I just wanted to say that in the name of Jesus Amen 799 sorry so um testifiers I'm going to ask you to stick to your one minute because we have a number of testifiers end it and we're ending in 14 minutes hi my name is Francis apilando when I looked at the pictures in this
085book the picture content reminded me of when I was a 5-year-old child it back brought back childhood memories of when my grandfather stuck his penis in my mouth that led me to have bad grades in school which led me to start doing heroin intravenous drugs which led me to heepsy which led me to prostitution which led me to prison time this book inhibits those pictures to let a 5-year-old child see those pictures would not be in the best interest of our future generation what are we trying to do confuse them because that is exactly what it did to me I oppose this bill please wait till I call your name did we hear from Jamie deer zoom zoom on Zoom please Aloha chair kidani Vice chair Kim members of the committee Jamie deweer Hawaiian Islands
086Republican women in strong opposition of SB 799 while our membership supports the freedom to read um we oppose the contents of SB 799 for the following reasons it violates the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution where parents these are where parental rights are held so you're violating parental rights um as spoken earlier children's brains are not fully developed to the age human brains are not developed to the age of 25 um also I do have a suggested solution and recommended Amendment on pages three and four section 2 chapter 302a um to add to that because right now it says the department shall select these materials for kindergarten through 12th grade I want to add access to libr and materials excuse me other people went over a minute thank you your time is up wow please
087read by testimony thank you um in the interest of Time how many are you here in the audience are in opposition to this please oppose oppos yes okay in the in the interest of Time how many here are wanting to testify in support in support okay thank you is there anyone online whose testimony is in support Madam chair okay is Michael golu Junior please go ahead Michael oh I thank you madam chair I'm Michael goo Jr Vice chair of the Hawaii state lgbtq plus commission we stand in strong support of this bill it we cannot let anybody and one group of people dictate what we are allowed to read uh this is a very I'm I'm sorry we actually need a bill like this because Banning books is not what America is about we encourage
088you to um amend the um the bill to include sexual uh gender identity and gender expression to the list of prot classes especially seeing what we're seeing coming down from the federal government when it comes to trying to erase our mahu uh intersect and non-binary f um Ohana members so on behalf of the um Hawaii State lgbtq plus commission we encourage you to pass the bill with those amendments Mahalo for hearing this bill and thank you for your leadership thank you um if you guys want me to clear the room I can do it otherwise please refrain from speaking and let the testifiers testify Carolyn go you on Zoom not present nichos Len on Zoom Aloha Madam chair Vice chair members Niko slin on behalf of hav health and harm reduction Center in strong support
089of this bill we ask that it be amended along the lines of what uh commissioner goyu just said we also raise the fact that when we're talking about F freedom to read book bands on the continent have included books like Mouse Color Purple the handmaid's tail The Perks of Being a Wallflower and the blueish ey so uh Mahalo to the authors for for introducing this and for you to for hearing it today Mahalo thank you Dean hammer and on Zoom not present chair Gary cordor cordary are you can you hear me yes okay thank you for hearing my testimony I testify and test against this bill and strongly oppose it it is an absolute travesty and attempt to normalize deviant Behavior this is not education you cannot find any educational component in these books these
090books are picture books designed to to it to uh normalize homosexual Behavior it's not a place in the classroom or in the library this is a place for the home this is violates parental rights and I also asked for an amendment on line four that parents must opt in to have this uh educational material if it makes it to the classroom parents must be notified and they must opt in for their children to see this material in closing there is there has never been a time when the nuclear family has been under such attack and yet we see in our society the crumble of Moral Moral values sex crimes trafficking hate crimes thank you your minute is up next okay okay what happens when we run at a time measures get deferred recess Sarah are
091you there I am here but it's not letting me turn on my camera but I'll will just go ahead and and start the conversation so I am here um with HSA the Hawaii state Teachers Association I am the teacher lobbyist I'm also a middle school teacher who's taught for 19 years I am standing with the 13,700 teachers that cannot be in that room today I hear it's quite a riled up place I will say of the books the 1600 books most often banned on the continent and in the last year they were brought by only 11 people groups like moms for Liberty train parents on how to object to books being in the classroom and it's really scary as a teacher to see how this is has spread um throughout our classroom as a teacher
092I don't feel safe I feel like I going to be attacked by these parent groups um for doing my job that is developmentally appropriate I will also say in the history of of the world the people who ban books are never the good guys which is why we need this rule today I have a friend in Ohio who actually put on leave for reading a book to her little kids in elementary about crayons trying to get along so this really makes me nervous that that we that we need this bill in the first place but clearly testimony today says why so please support this teachers need to know that you support us and that we have the freedom to read in our classrooms and so to our students thank you okay questions going to questions
093yes going straight to question members questions yeah can we have the librarian is this your priority is this the librarian's priority this do I think it's important um uh there across the country we have Librarians now who are being put in jail they're being picked up for um making Books available to people who have different values or have different needs or informational needs and it's important to make sure that that everybody everybody in this room also has access to the resources that they want and need so what is this your priority um we I was told this is a librarian Library priority no it's not a library okay thank you yeah thank you thank you doe doe so is doe Banning books right now no we're not Banning books you're not Banning any books no
094we have um selection criteria and it's aligned to um our national um Professional Standards okay thank you so question does the Board of Education get involved in any of your selections or NOK you [Music] um questions Stacy thank you so Stacy has the state librarian um had any comments to the department about banning books in the schools public libraries uh in public libraries we have had people request to have books taken off of the Shelf yes so but has have you required that do remove the books from the shelves no thank you questions sure Department of Education thank you Heidi for being here um I know that this is more than likely going to be a librarian selection uh but do you feel that this would increase the literacy in our students uh do you
095feel like this would help with graduation rates do you think that it would help with teacher shortages I'm just really trying to find um the ground on why would we be maybe not necessarily prioritizing as she had mentioned but find it to be important so would this help us uh would this help our stud students um right now we do as aushi gima mentioned we do have a criteria um and we do take the maturity of the child in mind anything sexually overt um would not be um a material that we purposely put on our shelves um we do serve children from a variety of backgrounds um we are public education and so it is not our um our koliana to promote or not promote a particular ideology a particular religious de um belief a
096particular family value that that's that's at the home what we do have to do is welcome children in our schools as they are and educate them in English Math Science Social Studies Etc sure um who determines at the Department of Education uh the level of maturity as you stated that is is um professional judgment it is not explicitly um written out um but the department does not promote um overtly such that that doesn't have a place in k12 and that's not something that we would support and we also want to honor the diversity of our families and at any time a family can inform the school that they do not want their CH child or children um K12 exposed to any particular um type of book or a book that has a particular content and
097the school will honor they'll put that in the system and we'll honor that request sure so if a student says and request a particular book maybe it's not necessarily under the guidance or recommendation of the parent does the school end up making the decision for the parent on what the student is mature or not mature enough to um we have our grade level standards and our um understanding of um ability and social emotional stability at certain at different ages um we are Educators um but there is not we don't have explicitly said out in kindergarten X Y and Z do you have anything else to add to uh yes we have um some systems that we utilize and it's separated from elementary and secondary so um The Librarians they use these resources as they build
098their collection and um it's really important that um you know the resources that they do add to their collection is aligned with curriculum it's relevant it's of quality materials it promotes critical thinking um it represents diverse perspectives and cultures and also that there's different access um digital as well as hard copies sure okay uh recess reconvening the committee on education we are on Senate Bill 249 relating to local agricultural products modify certain Benchmark goals and timeline for the Department of Education to provide locally sourc Agricultural and food products superintendent stand just good afternoon ch ch chair din Deputy superintendent with due the department stands on its written testimony which provides comments on this measure the department appreciates the Bill's intent to separate the local food purchase goals from other state departments by clarifying gold targets
099Additionally the department is continuing to assess opportunities to work with our food distributors to reach the slated goals closest being the 30x30 uh goal for purchasing of local products thank you for opportunity to testify thank you Sharon herd Department of B hello chair Vice chair M of the thank you thank you Brian mamoto executive director Hawaii Farm Bureau thank you chair the Hawaii Farm buau will stand on testimony in support Nancy Moser individual in support Hunter hel helin advocacy director Hawaii Farmers Union in support are there additional testifiers present wish to testify on this matter members questions okay going to recess reconvening the committee on education for decision making members recommendation of the chair for Senate Bill 894 sd1 is to defer for Senate Bill 187 to defer for Senate oh I'm sorry for Senate
100Bill 894 defer with no objections Senate Bill 187 defer with no objections Senate Bill 757 relating to libraries recommendation of the chairs to pass with amendments to include the testimony of the AG to clarify the purpose of this bill and defect the date to July 1 2050 okay recommendation is to pass Senate Bill 757 with amendments uh Cher kidani I Vice chair vot I Senator Hashimoto Senator kuha is excused Senator the court I Four Eyes one excuse recommendations adopted thank you for Senate Bill 799 defer without objection 7 Senate Bill 249 pass with amendments but defecting the date to July 1 2050 chair votes I okay chair votes are Senate Bill 249 uh pass with amendments any member voting no any member voting with reservations hearing none four members present one excuse recommendations adopted thank
101you members that concludes our hearing was deferred