Bill Text: HI SB355 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating To Preschool.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2023-12-11 - Carried over to 2024 Regular Session. [SB355 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-SB355-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	355
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

relating to preschool.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that investments in early childhood education pay dividends for the formal preparation of children as learners and future citizens, while also benefiting taxpayers and boosting economic vitality.  Research on the benefits of quality pre-kindergarten programs indicates that for every $1 invested in such opportunities, society saves $4 to $8 on remedial classes, special education, welfare programs, and criminal justice costs.  According to modern neuroscience, roughly eighty-five per cent of a child's brain develops from birth to age five, emphasizing the importance of providing a quality learning environment during these formative years.

     The legislature further finds that preschool brings an approximately $4.20 return on investment for every $1 spent on quality early childhood services, especially in terms of long-term life skills.  At the national level, every $1 spent on early childhood education saves taxpayers up to $13 in future costs, including lowered health care costs, reduced rates of educational remediation and prison incarceration, and higher productivity.  Access to quality pre-kindergarten programs not only helps working parents fulfill their child rearing responsibilities but is also essential for building a twenty-first century labor force.

     The legislature additionally finds that early childhood education is especially important for at-risk students.  According to the High/Scope Perry Preschool longitudinal study, at-risk children with access to quality early learning programs were twenty per cent more likely to graduate from high school, fourteen per cent more likely to be employed, and twenty-four per cent less likely to have been incarcerated by age forty than peers without such access.

     The legislature also finds that Act 46, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, established the goal of providing all children who are three to four years old and who are in the two years prior to kindergarten entry with enrollment in a preschool program by the year 2032.  Additionally, in 2022, the legislature appropriated $200,000,000 for the school facilities authority to expand access to early learning programs statewide.  According to data from the Accountability Resource Center of Hawaii, the department of education is currently overseeing six thousand twenty-eight classrooms in total, with a teacher headcount of 4,860, meaning that over one thousand classrooms are not currently being used for student instruction.  Renovating many of these classrooms for use as preschool facilities would allow the State to expand access to early childhood education in a more cost-effective manner than relying on private partnerships or constructing new facilities.

     The legislature notes that the Hawaii teacher standards board currently lists approximately five hundred teachers who are certified to teach early childhood education and who are already employed by the department of education.  Expanding access to preschool in public school settings would allow these teachers to transition into early learning classrooms.  Moreover, the department of education hired five hundred six new teachers for the 2020-2021 school year, including three hundred thirty-eight elementary school teachers, many of whom may be licensed to teach in early childhood education classrooms.  Recently implemented teacher salary incentives, such as differential pay increases, have also proven successful in recruiting and retaining teachers in hard-to-fill positions.  The high number of elementary school teacher applications received by the department of education and effective teacher recruitment and retention incentives bolster the State's development of an early learning educator pipeline.  Therefore, prioritizing public school resources for the provision of early learning programs would empower the State to deliver quality preschool opportunities to working families efficiently and would maximize the impact of appropriations for the expansion of early childhood education.

     Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to require the school facilities authority to, to the greatest extent possible, renovate, improve, and expand existing public school facilities and classrooms to increase early learning capacity.

     SECTION 2.  Section 302A-1703, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§302A-1703  Powers; generally.  (a)  Except as otherwise limited by this chapter, the authority shall be responsible for all public school development, planning, and construction related to capital improvement projects assigned by the legislature, governor, or board of education.

     (b)  The authority shall comply with chapter 103D.

     (c)  Except as otherwise limited by this chapter, the authority may also:

     (1)  Have a seal and alter the same at its pleasure;

     (2)  Subject to subsection (b), make and execute contracts and all other instruments necessary or convenient for the exercise of its powers and functions under this subpart;

     (3)  Make and alter bylaws for its organization and internal management;

     (4)  Adopt rules pursuant to chapter 91 with respect to its projects, operations, properties, and facilities, including qualifications for persons and entities wishing to enter into a public-private partnership with the authority, as permitted in paragraph (7);

     (5)  Acquire or contract to acquire by grant or purchase real, personal, or mixed property or any interest therein; to clear, improve, and rehabilitate and to sell, assign, exchange, transfer, convey, lease, or otherwise dispose of or encumber the same;

     (6)  Acquire property by condemnation pursuant to chapter 101;

     (7)  Enter into partnerships with qualified persons, including public-private partnerships, as defined in the authority's rules, to acquire, construct, reconstruct, rehabilitate, improve, alter, or provide for the construction, reconstruction, improvement, or alteration of any project; and sell, assign, transfer, convey, exchange, lease, or otherwise dispose of or encumber any project; and in the case of the sale of any project, accept a purchase money mortgage in connection therewith;

     (8)  Grant options to purchase any project or to renew any lease entered into by it in connection with any of its projects, on terms and conditions as it deems advisable;

     (9)  Prepare or cause to be prepared plans, specifications, designs, and estimates of costs for the construction, reconstruction, rehabilitation, improvement, or alteration of any project, and from time to time to modify the plans, specifications, designs, or estimates;

    (10)  Procure insurance against any loss in connection with its property and other assets and operations in amounts and from insurers as it deems desirable;

    (11)  Apply for and accept gifts or grants in any form from any public agency or from any other source, including gifts or grants from private individuals and private entities;

    (12)  Borrow money or procure loan guarantees from the federal government for or in aid of any project the authority is authorized to undertake pursuant to this chapter.  Additionally, in connection with borrowing or procurement of loan guarantees, the authority:

          (A)  Shall comply with conditions required by the federal government pursuant to applicable regulation or required in any contract for federal assistance;

          (B)  Shall repay indebtedness incurred pursuant to this section, including any interest thereon;

          (C)  May execute loan and security agreements and related contracts with the federal government;

          (D)  May issue bonds pledging revenues, assessments, or other taxes as security for indebtedness incurred pursuant to this section; and

          (E)  May enter into financing agreements as that term is defined in section 37D-1;

    (13)  Appoint or retain by contract one or more attorneys who are independent of the attorney general to provide legal services solely in cases of negotiations in which the attorney general lacks the sufficient expertise; provided that the independent attorney shall consult and work in conjunction with the designated deputy attorney general;

    (14)  Use the department of human resources development to recruit, hire, and retain exempt employees, architects, engineers, existing civil service positions, and other technical positions for the development, planning, and construction related to capital improvement projects; and

    (15)  Do any and all things necessary to carry out its purposes and exercise the powers given and granted in this subpart.

     (d)  Prior to project approval, the authority shall consult with the Hawaii state public library system regarding any construction or renovation projects for school lands that are adjacent to or have Hawaii state public library facilities on them.

     (e)  With regard to the development of pre-kindergarten facilities, the authority shall, to the greatest extent possible, renovate, improve, and expand existing public school facilities and classrooms to increase student capacity."

     SECTION 3.  Act 46, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, as amended by section 9 of Act 210, Session Laws of Hawaii 2021, is amended by amending section 12 to read as follows:

     "SECTION 12.  Chapter 26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"Part    .  Early learning

     §26-     Benchmarks; duties.  (a)  The department of human services and the executive office on early learning shall ensure access to learning through preschool programs that meet or exceed the following benchmarks:

     (1)  Fifty per cent of all otherwise unserved children who are three to four years of age, or will not be at least five years of age on or before July 31 of the current school year, shall have access to enrollment in a preschool program by December 31, 2027; and

     (2)  One hundred per cent of all children who are three to four years of age, or will not be at least five years of age on or before July 31 of the current school year, shall have access to enrollment in a preschool program by December 31, 2032[.];

provided that all children who are older than three years of age shall have access to enrollment in a public preschool program by the benchmarks pursuant to this subsection.

     The department of human services and the executive office on early learning shall submit an annual report to the legislature, no later than August 31 of each year, on the progress toward achieving the benchmarks until all children who are three to four years of age, or will not be at least five years of age on or before July 31 of the current school year, are enrolled in a preschool program.

     (b)  The department of human services and the executive office on early learning shall collaborate to identify the need for child care and early learning in geographic regions of the State and consider using public facilities including schools, libraries, and the University of Hawaii system as locations for child care and early learning programs.

     (c)  The department of human services shall work jointly with the executive office on early learning to monitor the progress of implementing the early care and education sector programs.  No later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular sessions of 2025, 2026, and 2027, the department of human services and the executive office on early learning shall submit to the legislature a joint report on the progress of implementing the early care and education sector programs.

     (d)  The department of human services shall facilitate and support data sharing among public and private entities to the extent not otherwise prohibited by law or rule.""

     SECTION 4.  Act 257, Session Laws of Hawaii 2022, is amended by amending section 1 to read as follows:

     "SECTION 1.  There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $200,000,000 or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2022-2023 for the school facilities authority to expand access to pre-kindergarten to eligible children of the State.  The school facilities authority may expend the moneys appropriated in this section on:

     (1)  The construction of new school facilities;

     (2)  The renovation, improvement, and expansion of existing school facilities to increase pre-kindergarten student capacity; and

     (3)  Any other costs the school facilities authority deems appropriate to increase pre-kindergarten student capacity within the State.

     The sum appropriated shall be expended by the school facilities authority for the purposes of this Act; provided that the appropriation authorized by this Act shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal biennium for which the appropriation is made; provided further that all moneys from the appropriation unencumbered as of June 30, 2024, shall lapse as of that date[.]; provided further that in expending the moneys appropriated by this Act, the authority shall, to the greatest extent possible, renovate, improve, and expand existing public school facilities to increase pre-kindergarten student capacity."

     SECTION 5.  The school facilities authority, in consultation with the department of education, shall submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2024.  The report shall:

     (1)  Detail existing public school facilities that have been renovated, improved, or expanded to increase pre-kindergarten student capacity;

     (2)  Identify existing public school facilities that may be renovated, improved, or expanded to increase pre-kindergarten student capacity in subsequent years, including the status of public school classrooms that are not currently being used to provide direct instruction to students; and

     (3)  Estimate the cost of renovating, improving, or expanding existing public school facilities to expand access to pre-kindergarten programming.

     SECTION 6.  Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval; provided that section 3 shall take effect on July 1, 2024.

 

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

Report Title:

School Facilities Authority; Department of Education; Pre-kindergarten Programming; Public School Facilities

 

Description:

Requires the school facilities authority to, to the greatest extent possible, renovate, improve, and expand existing public school facilities and classrooms to increase pre-kindergarten student capacity, including while expending funds appropriated for fiscal year 2023.  Requires the authority to submit a report to the legislature.

 

 

 

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.