Bill Text: HI SCR34 | 2023 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Urging The Department Of Education To Create A Priority List For Repairing Public School Fire Alarm Systems And Study Acceptable Alternatives.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2023-05-22 - Certified copies of resolutions sent. [SCR34 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2023-SCR34-Amended.html
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THE SENATE |
S.C.R. NO. |
34 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2023 |
S.D. 1 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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SENATE CONCURRENT
RESOLUTION
URGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO CREATE A PRIORITY LIST FOR REPAIRING PUBLIC SCHOOL FIRE ALARM SYSTEMS AND STUDY ACCEPTABLE ALTERNATIVES.
WHEREAS, properly functioning fire alarm systems are essential for public school safety; and
WHEREAS, the impact of fires is significantly worsened for aging facilities; and
WHEREAS, as of 2022, the average age of public school buildings in Hawaii is seventy-two years, according to the Department of Education; and
WHEREAS, approximately twenty percent of Hawaii's two hundred fifty-seven public schools are more than one hundred years old; and
WHEREAS, the National Fire Protection Association Life Safety Code, commonly known as NFPA 101, requires schools to have functioning fire alarm systems; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, the Department of Education acknowledged that King Intermediate School in Kaneohe had not had a working fire alarm system for seven years; and
WHEREAS, in 2022, teachers at Konawaena Elementary School on Hawaii Island reported that the school's fire alarm system has been out of service for two years; and
WHEREAS, a fire broke out at Konawaena Elementary shortly after the school's fire alarm system became inoperative in 2020; and
WHEREAS, properly functioning fire alarms can be the difference between life and death should a fire break out at a public school; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2023, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is urged to create a priority list for repairing public school fire alarm systems and study acceptable alternatives; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Department of Education is requested to provide the priority list, along with a timeline for completing repairs, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2024; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Superintendent of Education, and Chairperson of the Board of Education.
DOE; Public Schools; Fire Alarm Systems; Repairs; Priority List
