Bill Text: HI SCR217 | 2020 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requesting The Hawaii Department Of Education To Create A Working Group To Discuss And Implement Institutional Changes In Suspension Policy At The School-level.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-16 - The hearing on this measure has been cancelled until further notice. [SCR217 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2020-SCR217-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	217
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the hawaii Department of Education to create a working group to discuss and implement institutional changes in suspension policy at the school-level.

 

 

     WHEREAS, studies show that suspensions are not an effective means of improving school functioning and school morale, but have a profoundly negative impact on student behavior, increasing drop-out rates, producing more aggressive behavior because of higher stress levels, denying students valuable education time and burdening the family with their care during school time resulting in job difficulties for parents, and a lack of supervision for the suspended student raising the possibility of the child ending up in the juvenile justice system and fueling the school-to-prison pipeline; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education reported to the federal government in its Civil Rights Data Collection (2015‑2016) suspension numbers which show that Hawaii has the highest rate in the nation for suspending students with disabilities, and very high rates of suspending Native Hawaiians, which has been shown to affect all students by creating perceptions that their disciplinary environment is less favorable; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education says its reporting was inaccurate but has continuously refused and failed to produce new statistics in a way that allows it to state what its actual rate of suspension is for students with disabilities and they have refused to explain why it will not provide this information required by federal law; and

 

     WHEREAS, there are multiple reports that students with disabilities are sent home from school for a variety of reasons wherein the Department of Education does not call it a suspension and probably does not report it as a suspension – these circumstances include situations where parents are encouraged and pressured to sign the child out as sick although that is not true – which suggests that Department of Education's true suspension rates may be much higher than reported; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education has almost unfettered discretion in suspending children from school for long periods of time resulting in disproportionate suspensions of Native Hawaiians and students with disabilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education has shown opposition towards the proposal of reducing the number of suspensions that can be used, explaining that it would not be beneficial for maintaining school safety and limit the administrator's ability to uphold school policy; and

 

     WHEREAS, the State of Hawaii has often led the nation in protecting the rights of children and minorities, such as becoming the third state in the nation to ban corporal punishment in schools, but is now leading the nation in allowing the suspension of students with disabilities and Native Hawaiians; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Department of Education needs to create a new culture wherein suspensions are a last resort for serious safety issues and all reasonable attempts are made to keep children in school, as seen in other states that have begun to utilize restorative educational practices to mitigate group disparities and juvenile delinquency; now, therefore;

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirtieth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2020, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to create a working group to discuss and implement institutional changes in school suspension policy, looking at updated suspension data, and drafting ideas for best practices; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawaii Department of Education is requested to convene a working group on suspensions and school exclusion to do the following:

 

     (1)  Evaluate scientific research on the use of suspensions and exclusions of children from school and the effects thereof;

 

     (2)  Examine other state programs being used to best implement a restorative model through compromise;

 

     (3)  Recommend strategies to reduce suspensions and exclusion of students from school; and

 

     (4)  Determine more appropriate discipline than suspensions and exclusions; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Superintendent of Education or the Superintendent's designee shall serve as chair and invite to serve as members of the working group a:

 

     (1)  Principal from a Hawaii Department of Education School;

 

     (2)  Special education teacher from a Hawaii Department of Education School;

 

     (3)  Student services coordinator from a Hawaii Department of Education School;

 

     (4)  General education teacher from a Hawaii Department of Education School;

 

     (5)  Complex area superintendent from the Hawaii Department of Education;

 

     (6)  Licensed pediatrician;

 

     (7)  Representative from a social service agency;

 

     (8)  Representative from a parent advisory group;

 

     (9)  Representative from the Special Education Advisory Council;

 

    (10)  Representative from the American Civil Liberties Union;

 

    (11)  Representative from the Hawaii Disability Rights Center;

 

    (12)  Representative from the Center on Disability Studies, University of Hawaii; and

 

    (13)  Any other persons that may be invited by the working group; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group shall convene no later than August 1, 2020; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the agenda of the first convening of the working group shall include updated data reporting from the 2015-2016 Civil Rights Data Collection and applicable 2017-2018 reporting data; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the working group is requested to submit a report to the Legislature of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, no later than 30 days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2021; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution shall be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

DOE; Suspension Policy; Minority Students; Students with Disabilities