001good afternoon welcome to the committee on education members the first item we have several agendas but the first agenda is a decision making only unfortunately we didn't have quum to vote um on the Friday agenda so with that saying we are our first item is House Bill 2774 this was a joint committee meeting with a and edu this is relating to local agricultural products and my recommendation is to pass HB 2774 HD2 pass with amendments defecting the date to July 1 2050 chair votes I okay B 2774 H2 to pass with amendments a chair votes I Vice chair votes ioto hi Senator Richards I Senator FLL five members present all voting and affirmative recommendations adoped thank you the next one is House Bill HD1 relating to making an appropriation for the Department of Education to
002Pro to promote student Mental Health recommendation of the chair is to pass with amendments defecting the date to July 1 2015 chair both ey okay HB 1906 house draft 1 pass with amendments any member voting no any member voting with reservations hearing none five members present voting I recommendations adopted thank you for House Bill 2399 HD1 relating to the Hawaii state public library system recommendation the chair is to pass with amendments defecting the date to July 1 2050 chair votes out HB 2399 house draft one pass with amendments any member voting no any member with reservations hearing none all members voting I recommendations adopted thank you final one on this agenda is House Bill 335 HD2 relating to the Department of Education procurement and exempting small purchases recommendation of the chair is to pass with
003amendments adopting the proposed sd1 chair VES I okay recommendations s HB 335 HD2 pass with amendments any member voting no any member with reservations hearing none all members voting I recommendations adopted going to um end this here [Music] thank you for joining us on the on education this is our 30 5:00 p.m. agenda we are in 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 legisl website this Zoom meeting and YouTube live stream event will include the 3:00 pm agenda no the 3:5 p.m. agenda for the committee on education in the unlikely event that must abruptly end this hearing due to Major technical difficulties the
004committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Wednesday March 20th 2024 at 3:03 p.m. in room 229 and a public notice will be posted on the legislature's website I'd like to take this time to remind our testifiers that due to time restrictions on our hearings we will be limiting testimony to one minute per testifier per bill for people participating remotely 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 manner members please hold any questions until testimony and all measures is heard first item on the agenda House Bill 1652 HD1 relating to tax credits establishes
005a state income tax credit for qualified expenses incurred by certain individuals employed by the Department of Education a public charter school the Hawaii state public library system or as part of a Head Start program in a school to testify superintendent please chair Vice chair members of the committee Sean BAC on behalf of the department please stand on our written testimon support thank you thank you Sean yuku AR call cross thank you Gary sugan Numa chair Vice chair members of the committee Quinton Piper Department Department of Taxation we'll stand on our written comments uh just note um we do have one recommended amendment to clarify the scope of we sorry the scope of the tax credit we believe this is in conformance with section one purpose thank you thank you thank you oui in support in
006support yes thank you Tom yamach not present on Zoom chair for tax Foundation of Hawaii offering comments is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure if not moving on House Bill 2384 HD2 relating to the school facilities special fund changes of means of financing for a portion of funds appropriated for deposit into the school faciliity special fund to expand pre kindergarten student capacity within the state from General funds to General obligation bond funds itals the funds appropriated into and out of the school facilities special funds by act 257 session laws of 2022 as amended to testify Lewis salivaria director budget and finance he says we can spend all the money we want he is in support Ricky fujitani inter executive director school facilities Authority goodno fu stand our ttim com thank you
007Ricky is there anyone here wishing to give testimony on this bill see none moving on to our final bill House Bill 1651 relating HD2 relating to the safety of educational workers requires the Department of Education and public schools to take certain steps to report incidents of harassment and implementation and Implement procedures for handling harassment of educational [Music] workers to testify Department of Education superintendent chair members of committee for the Department of Education stand on our thank you Ed no state public charter school commission we commission We Stand strongly support this thank you and huchi Attorney General's office good afternoon chair kidani Vice chair Kim members and herui Department of the Attorney General um in the interest of time I'll just state that in our testimony we've suggested some clarifying amendments to be made to the
008bill I'll be available for questions thank you and kamakana Kima upw in support iner Stonehill hi good afternoon uh chair kadani Vice chair Kim and committee members I've been an educator for 20 years and I'm here to support this bill which is aimed at addressing unlawful harassment in the workplace of educational workers even the Senate itself acknowledges the seriousness of harassment and has its own policy we want to also establish clear and enforceable guidelines to prevent and address such behaviors in all workplaces this bill presents a framework for identifying and combating unlawful harassment by defining the rights of educational workers and ensures that everyone in the doe is aware of their obligations it places a strong emphasis on the employer's responsibility to promptly investigate and address any allegations of harassment this proactive stance is crucial
009in fostering a safe and inclusive work environment harassment takes a toll on the mental health and job satisfaction of educational workers leading to decreased engagement and increased turnover rates we can uphold the rights and Dignity of all employees and Foster safe learning environments for students and teacher success thank you thank you Lindsay Chambers H chair kidani Vice chair Kim and members of the committee as stated in aoy news now report over the weekend the Mantra if you see something say something is a fundamental lesson urging us to speak up when we sense danger numerous victims have voiced our concerns to doe and Boe officials yet little to nothing changes we still many who speak out face retaliation silencing victims and perpetuating a dangerous cycle hb1 1651 isn't asking for anything excessive it is looking for
010a basic systemwide response procedure that should have been established long ago the liability now rests on the shoulders of State leaders who have been made aware that there is a serious safety problem in our public and Charter Schools we cannot continue to allow more rights and freedoms to harassers while ignoring victims thank you for the opportunity to testify thank you oi good afternoon h stand on thank you is there anyone else here wishing to yes come forward please St your name chair K Vice chair Kim and committee members my name is Sean witor I'm a special education teacher from fton high school and I support HB 1651 at the end of the last school year my family and I were harassed on social media and I was physically threatened through emails by a parent of
011one of my former students for an incident related to enforcing the electronics use policy my classroom for nearly 6 months I attempted to secure a TR to protect myself from an irrational parent who didn't respect the boundaries of Civility and my professional and private life during this time I navigated the legal process and interactions with law enforcement and the judicial system alone as the situation was treated as a personal matter by the de ultimately I wasn't able to secure a TR I've worked for the doe for 25 years and I believe that I and my fellow Educators deserve better than this I believe the policies outlined in HB 1651 will fully support and adequately protect education Educators who face harassment and a respectfully ask that you support hb1 1651 in its current form thank you
012thank you Sean go go anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure not recess come back reconvening the committee on education um Senator Kim will sing a song while we wait for Senator fella sen fella we're gonna vote [Music] the wi today that was for for for um we're going to go ahead with the vote if Senator flla is nearby we are going to vote okay for House Bill 1652 HD okay must have been our song recation So 1652 HD1 recommendation this is relating to tax credits we delay us we sang a song waiting for you to come back paron song relating to tax credits the recommendation of the chair is going to be to pass with amendments and the Amendments uh to include do taxes testimony regarding definition of qualified expenses questions members
013discussion Madam chair yes I'd like to also recommend that we put in the community report some of the concerns raised by the tax Foundation about um that these monies has been appropriated the system that is frustrating instead of using tax system to compensate these teachers first consideration should be fixing the system and I agree that you know we should be fixing the system the teachers shouldn't have to be outlaying it so I'd like something to that nature put in the community report um about that and there's others um in the tax credits that that they mention so if we could incorp that agree further discussion cherai Cher vsai House Bill 1652 house draft one with amendments uh any members present wishing to to vote with reservations or opposition hearing none all five members present um
014measures adopted thank you for House Bill 2384 HD2 relating to the school facilities special fund recommendation of the chair is to pass with amendments and we're going to amend section 1A the sum appropriate it shall be expended by Department of Education replace school facilities Authority amend section 302 A- 1706 C school facility special fund shall be administered by Department of Education reflect other changes throughout the section 302 A-1 1701 through 1708 to pass with amendments members questions CH hold okay chair Vol I House Bill 2384 house draft 2 with a a senate draft any member voting negative any M voting with reservations hearing none five members present and ad thank you and our final bill House Bill 1651 HD2 relating to the safety of educational workers um members I want to defer this um decision
015making to Wednesday March 20th at 3:2 2: p.m in this conference room 229 thank you this meeting is adjourned