HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.B. NO.	608
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021		H.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII		S.D. 2

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.

 

 

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

 

PART I

     SECTION 1.  Section 302A-1106.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

     "§302A-1106.5  Board of education; community [meetings.] forums.  [The board shall hold not less than one community meeting annually in each county in] In addition to their regular meetings, the board shall hold no less than six community forums annually to discuss and receive input from the community on public education and public library issues[.]; provided that the board shall hold at least one community forum in each county.  The board chairperson shall designate board members to attend [the] each community [meetings.] forum.  These community [meetings] forums shall not be held for the purpose of formulating educational policy.  The community [meetings] forums shall be exempt from [sections 92-2.5, 92-7, 92-9, and 92-41; provided that the board shall give written public notice of each community meeting.  The meeting notice shall indicate the date, time, and place of the meeting, and shall be filed in the office of the lieutenant governor and in the board's office for public inspection six calendar days before the meeting.  The notice shall also be posted at the site of the meeting.] chapter 92."

     SECTION 2.  At any public meeting properly noticed pursuant to chapter 92, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the board of education shall include an open forum at the end of its meeting agenda to afford all interested persons an opportunity to present oral testimony on any matter not on the agenda; provided that the testimony is related to matters over which the board of education has supervision, control, jurisdiction, or advisory power.

     SECTION 3.  The board of education shall report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2022 on its efforts to amend its policies to include an open forum at the end of its meeting agenda to afford all interested persons an opportunity to present oral testimony on any matter not on the agenda.

PART II

     SECTION 4.  Section 89-6, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (d) to read as follows:

     "(d)  For the purpose of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement, the public employer of an appropriate bargaining unit shall mean the governor together with the following employers:

     (1)  For bargaining units (1), (2), (3), (4), (9), (10), (13), (14), and (15), the governor shall have six votes and the mayors, the chief justice, and the Hawaii health systems corporation board shall each have one vote if they have employees in the particular bargaining unit;

     (2)  For bargaining units (11) and (12), the governor shall have four votes and the mayors shall each have one vote;

     (3)  For bargaining units (5) and (6), the governor shall have three votes[,] and the board of education shall have two votes[, and the superintendent of education shall have one vote]; and

     (4)  For bargaining units (7) and (8), the governor shall have three votes, the board of regents of the University of Hawaii shall have two votes, and the president of the University of Hawaii shall have one vote.

Any decision to be reached by the applicable employer group shall be [on the basis of] by a simple majority[,] vote, except when a bargaining unit includes county employees from more than one county.  In that case, the simple majority shall include at least one county."

PART III

     SECTION 5.  This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

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

     SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.

 

Report Title:

Board of Education; Public Meetings; Oral Testimony; Community Forums; Collective Bargaining; Voting

 

Description:

Requires the board of education to hold no less than six community forums annually, with at least one forum in each county.  Requires the board to include an open forum for public comments on non-agenda items.  Requires a report to the legislature on implementing open forums.  Eliminates the superintendent of education as a voting member constituting the public employer for the purpose of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with personnel of the department of education.  Effective 7/1/2050.  (SD2)

 

 

 

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