HCR 47: REQUESTING the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION to SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FOUNDATIONS IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS to offer SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID TO GRADUATES AND provide FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE SCHOOLS.

HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

REQUESTING the DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION to SUPPORT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF FOUNDATIONS IN PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOLS to offer SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID TO GRADUATES AND provide FINANCIAL SUPPORT TO THE SCHOOLS.

     WHEREAS, well-established and supportive foundations throughout Hawaii's public high schools will help graduates further their education, enhance public schools' image, provide a means for public school graduates to demonstrate their appreciation and gratitude for what public schools have provided, and inject support to schools for unfunded needs; and

     WHEREAS, Farrington High School and McKinley High School have well-established foundations that have provided countless scholarships to their graduates and, at times, urgent and immediate support for their school's unfunded needs; and

     WHEREAS, few public schools beside Farrington High School and McKinley High School have established such foundational support; and

     WHEREAS, in 2012, the Legislature adopted Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 77, S.D. 1, which requested the Board of Education and Department of Education to establish a statewide resource development program to assist the complex areas in creating endowments to benefit Hawaii's public schools; and

     WHEREAS, since Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 77, S.D. 1 (2012), was adopted, little progress has been made in establishing new school foundations; and

     WHEREAS, establishing school foundations require dedicated organizers who must navigate a multitude of requirements, such as creating a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization with a charter, bylaws, and board of directors; and

     WHEREAS, establishing such foundations also require expertise in legal matters, accounting, investment, and technology; and

     WHEREAS, individuals who endeavor to create a foundation for their high schools often lack the expertise and skills required to establish the foundation and can get discouraged and frustrated at the difficulties involved; now, therefore,

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the Senate concurring, that the Department of Education is requested to support the establishment of foundations in public high schools to offer scholarships and financial aid to graduates and provide financial support to the schools; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to establish a statewide resource development program to provide institutional assistance to school foundation organizers in:

     (1)  Navigating nonprofit status for a school foundation;

     (2)  Creating charters and bylaws for the school foundation;

     (3)  Providing financial and accounting advice and assistance;

     (4)  Assisting with technology needs, including website creation; and

     (5)  Helping overcome other obstacles that deter the efforts in establishing a school foundation;

provided that the Department of Education is not obligated to serve as the oversight entity for any school foundation established pursuant to this resolution; and

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

Report Title: 

Department of Education; School Foundations; Statewide Resource Development Program