Senate Standing Committee on Education

Aloha and welcome to the Senate Committee on Education. Today is Wednesday, March 12th, 2025. This is our 3:00pm agenda, and we are in hearing room 229. This meeting, including the audio and video of remote participants, is being streamed live on YouTube.

You will find links to viewing options for all senate meetings on the live and on demand video page of the legislature's website. This Zoom meeting and YouTube livestream event will include the 3pm agenda for the Committee on Education.

In the unlikely event that we must abruptly end this hearing due to technical difficulties, the committee will reconvene to discuss any outstanding business on Friday, March 14th, 2025 at 3:00pm in room 229 and a public notice will be posted on the legislature's website.

I'd like to take this time to remind our testifiers that due to time restrictions on our hearings, we will be limiting testimony to one minute per testifier per bill. For people participating remotely, please remain muted and video disabled until shortly before it is your turn to testify.

When I call your name, unmute yourself and your time will begin. After your minute is completed, staff will mute you so that we can move this hearing along in an orderly and efficient manner.

First up on our agenda, House Bill 429 HD1, relating to early learning, appropriate funds to hire teachers, and teacher assistants and for equipment and services for public preschools. Okay. First to Testify, our esteemed Lieutenant Governor, Ms. Sylvia.

Good afternoon Chair and Vice Chair Members. I was going to say Members of the Committee, but thank you. Yeah. In strong support, you know, thanks to the efforts of the Legislature and working together closely with the Education Committee, we successfully opened up over 50 preschool classrooms in the last two years.

In the next two years, we are already planning ahead to build another 50 classrooms. And this Bill will help Fund the teachers and teacher assistants. And mahalo again for your efforts and in ensuring that we have access to preschool throughout the state. Thank you. Thank you. Lieutenant Governor, just a few questions.

You don't want to ask people to testify first?

Well, you know, your time is important, so we'd like to ask you questions.

I just wanted to ask, are we using any federal funds for any of the early learning?

So not the ones that are part of the Ready Keiki Program, because the Ready Keiki initiative and all the EOEL and doe, the classrooms are all state funded. So these are thanks to the Legislature. These will continue regardless of what happens to federal funds.

But, for instance, Head Start, apparently there were huge layoffs of Head Start individuals nationwide. So we anticipate Some of the kids impacted by or service by Head Start will lose some of the seats. So we anticipate that's why even more so we probably need to ramp up even more on the states.

Okay, so here's a harder question. So with the dismantling of the Education Department at the federal level and the impacts that will be to our K12, not to mention everybody else, and the need to Fund more state funding, how is this going to all fit in as far as, you know, prior to prioritizing early education and preschool?

Yeah, we are very mindful of that as well. And so that's why in as much as we want to ramp up as quickly as we can right now, we still need to ramp up about 3. We need to build about 300 classroom.

And the way that we have been approaching is we only build when there are spaces available to maximize the unused spaces at public schools and to make sure that we have teachers and teacher assistants who are available because we don't want the same issues in the K12 programs where we have classes and students and we don't have enough teachers.

So those are all in line with what we are doing. So, you know, at this point in time, the fact that we are working closely with the University of Hawaii, we're working with DOE, Executive Office of Early Learning and also the private providers, so that we're not supplanting and replacing what's going on.

I think those are the things that we take into consideration.

Good. Thank you. Thank you. So, Lieutenant Governor, how many classrooms, early learning classrooms, have you provided so far?

So far, in the first year we successfully opened 11 and then that became 13, and then the second year, 44. So 13 plus 44 is 1550. What is that, 7? No, 57. Just in the last two years.

And do you have a plan for this year? Do we know how many?

Yes. For the next two years we are planning to open another 50. And that's why this Bill will provide the teachers and teacher assistants funding to fill the 50.

Do you get any feedback from DOE as to where there may be empty classrooms at could be utilized?

This cannot happen without the strong cooperation of the Department of Education. In fact, we visited a classroom, Kaala Elementary, out in Wahea this morning and the principal was so thankful that thanks to the Legislature and thanks to our efforts, we were able to open a preschool classroom in his elementary.

And he said that, you know, this is a classroom of 20 and he has a wait list already of for next year. About 49 people apply for just 20 seats.

Wow. Thank you very much for your help in getting this done because without someone like you at the top of the list pushing for it, I don't think we'd have as many as we've gotten so far.

It has been a strong partnership and this is something that I think every Administration has tried to do. And thanks to to your efforts, thanks to the joint partnership, we are finally at a place where we are providing huge access for our kids.

I think it's our efforts because it started we that fin. So thank you so much.

All right. Next to testify, Yuko Arikaoa Cross Director, Executives that give Office on Early Learning.

Hi Chair Kidani, Vice Chair Kim. I'm Yuko Arikoa Cross, Director of the Executive Office on Early Learning. We stand in strong support of HB429 and I'm thankful for the Committee for scheduling this Bill. EOEL works in partnership with the Hawaii Department of Education to administer 92 public pre K classrooms in 74 campuses across the state.

The funding and positions in this Bill will allow EOEL to add an additional 50 classrooms over the next two years and continue our trajectory of growth initiated by the Lieutenant Governor's Ready Keiki Initiative. We also want to note that the funding in this Bill was also included in the Governor's biennium budget request.

We appreciate the Legislature's continued investment in our youngest Keiki and their families and respectfully request your support of this funding. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Thank you. Next to testify, PJ Foehr.

Any questions?

Aloha Chair Kidani Vice Chair Kim, PJ Foehr on behalf of Dr. Ed Noe and State Public Charter School Commission, we stand on our submitted testimony in support of this measure and look forward to working with all the offices engaged in this measure to further early learning opportunities for public education in the State of Hawaii.

Thank you for your testimony PJ. Questions. Next to testify, Phil Ro and Sophia Howell, Executive Director, Interim Intern, Democratic Party of Hawaii.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. I'm Sophia Howell testifying in support of House Bill 429 on behalf of the Democratic Party of Hawaii and myself.

The Democratic Party of Hawaii strongly supports House Bill 429 because it directly relates to the critical issue of the high cost of living in our state, particularly the financial strain put on working families by childcare expenses.

By expanding access to free public preschool education, this Bill not only prepares young children for future academic success, but also promotes long term economic stability for families who are burdened with financial strain. As someone who is fortunate enough to attend preschool. I can attest to the benefits of early childhood education.

The guidance of incredible teachers who nurtured my curiosity and creativity gave me the tools I need to succeed in school and in life. However, roughly half of the children in Hawaii still lack access to preschool and this is creating significant inequality in our state.

This bill's focus on addressing teacher staffing shortages and improving classroom environments is crucial to ensuring that all children, no matter their family's income, have access to high quality early education. Investing in preschool education is an investment in the future of Hawaiis children and the future of our state.

Supporting House Bill 429 aligns with the party's values of economic fairness and educational opportunity and we're in strong support of this Bill.

Thank you. Very, very well said. Those questions. Thank you so much for being here. Very well said. That was very impressive. Next to testify, Elaine Yamashita.

Aloha from Maui. Chair, Vice Chair. I'm Elaine Yamashita. I'm the Chair of the Early Learning Board and the board stands on its submitted testimony in support of this. Mahalo.

Mahalo, Elaine. Thank you very much for your testimony. Questions. Next to testify, Osatui Jr not present on Zoom Chair. In support, Hawaii State Teachers Association.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair. Sarah Milianta Laffin on behalf of Hawaii State Teachers Association for OSA Tui.

State your name again please.

Sarah Milianta Laffan. Thank you for bringing this Bill to a hearing. Just like LG said, we have been in strong support of early learning for a very long time. We can tell. Here's the teacher's view of that.

As a former third grade teacher, I can tell you the kids who've been to Pre K. You can see it in their development., you can see it in how they can handle socialization, how they can handle their learning skills. Pre K is good for every child and we're so excited to see that it be expanded.

Also focusing on our educators who have that early childhood certification because that is a tricky area to teach. As someone who not taught lower than third grade, I could not be a Pre K teacher. So they do really important work and we are grateful that you're supporting this legislation. Mahalo. Thank you.

Next to testify, Christopher Santina, Principal, Hana High and elementary School on Zoom.

No one there. Aloha. My name is Chris Sunita and I'm honored to submit this testimony and strong support of HB 429. Excuse me. Thank you so much.

Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee on this Bill expanding access to early learning by allocating funding for public preschool teachers, teachers assistance and necessary classroom equipment and services. I am the principal of Honahan Elementary School and in this capacity for the last six years, we currently run two preschools on our campus.

The high cost of child care in Hawaii presents a significant challenge for working families. Many parents are forced to work to make difficult financial decisions, delay career advancements, and even leave the workforce due to the lack of affordable preschool options.

By increasing access to free public preschool education, this Bill would provide crucial relief for families while also ensuring that young children receive a strong educational foundation that will support their long term academic success and career opportunities. Mahalo.

Mahalo very much. And his questions. Thank you, Principal Santina. Is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure? Come forward, please. State your name.

Aloha, Angela Melody Young, testifying in strong support of the early childhood priority to help with services and equipment for building the preschools at public schools. I think there are urgent needs in the community as it relates to early childhood education and I'm learning. I teach after school at our Sunday school, at our church.

And actually when I was talking to the county's office, which is one of the partners that works with the network, is that churches have very similar facilities design for daycare and preschool related activities.

And so a lot of the moms and the parents that I talk to, they really care about the nurture and the level of quality of teachers at the schools.

And so I think what we can do to strengthen the pipeline for teachers and to equip them for a planning of a statewide strategy for implementation for this early childhood education priority will prepare students for success and get to common goals in the community. Thank you.

Thank you, Angela. Questions? Members? If not, is there anyone else here who wishes to testify on this measure? Let me take a quick recession, Sam.

Resuming the Committee on Education. Next item on the agenda, House Bill 133 relating to surfing. Appropriate funds to the Department of Education to support the establishment of surfing as an interscholastic sport. To testify, Superintendent.

Aloha, Chair Kidani and Vice Chair Kim. I'm Terry Ushijima, Assistant Superintendent of the Office of Curriculum, Instruction Design, testifying on behalf of the Department of Education. The Department stands on its written testimony which provides comments on this measure. Surfing has been approved by Board Policy 10111.

The Department would defer to each league as to whether they would like to endorse surfing as an interscholastic sport. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. Thank you.

Keith Amamiya, Chair of Governor's Sports Task Force.

Good afternoon, Chair Kidani, Vice Chair Kim and Members of the Senate Education Committee. I'm Keith Amemiya and I'm testifying on behalf of the Governor's Sports Task Force as its chair in strong support of House Bill 133. As you saw from the testimony submitted, there is strong support, overwhelming support for high school surfing as an official sport.

And in fact, there was no testimony that was submitted in opposition to the testimony. The only testimony that didn't support it raised three concerns about surfing, and I'll address them real quickly. In terms of cost, if this bill is passed and high school surfing is funded, that won't be an issue.

In terms of safety, the Maui Interscholastic League has successfully held surfing as a sport safely for the last 10 years. Third, not all high school principals support surfing, but not all high school principals have supported other sports in the past.

There is strong support from certain high school principals, including the Hana High School principal, who will testify shortly. Thank you.

Thank you, Keith. Next to testify, Beth Matsuda. Don't be nervous. It's only us.

I'm Beth Matsuda from Makaha. I was a teacher at Waianae High School. I've been working for the last 10 years to get surfing in the schools, and we follow all the safety protocols. I work with ocean safety as well.

I work with nonprofits like North Shore Lifeguards Association, Nakamakai, and the kids want surfing. Five years ago, we only had five OIA schools and five ILH schools. This year I have 12 OIA schools and I have seven ILH schools. Next year I have three more OIA schools coming on.

And 19 of the ILH schools have said they express an interest in it. Biggest thing for the OI schools is the cost because we are paying for it out of our own pockets. So I paid for all the coaches certifications so far. I paid for equipment so far.

So if you could fund this bill, it would really help. Thank you.

And just questions. Next to testify, Kylie Lelehua High School Mules Surf team. Is she on Zoom?

Yeah.

Kylie, hello.

Hello. Thank you chair and Vice Chair for letting me testify. My name is Kylie Sato and I am the captain of Lelahu High School Surf Team. I stand by my submitted testimony and support passing HB133.

Over the past two years, I've seen more interest and growth, but it still has been challenging to operate as individual clubs and not as an official sport and not getting recognition or included. Like other sports, surfing is more than just contests.

By passing HB133, it is a step forward in investing in us and giving us an opportunity to connect our passion to our school, expose us to career opportunities, increase ocean safety and create ocean stewards that embrace Hawaii's culture and history now and for a lifetime. And your support and resources matter and will make a big difference.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Kylie. Next to testify, Kim Ball, Maui Interscholastic League Surfing on Zoom. Kim, hello.

Aloha, Senator Kedani and Senator Kim, Members of the Senate Education Committee. My name is Kim Ball and I'm strongly in favor of HB133. We had our first Malleanders Classic League surf contest for this season this past Saturday north of Lahaina DT Flemings Beach Park. We have had MIL surfing since 2014.

We have never had a serious injury. We had 12 high schools competing with 93 student athletes surfing in 30 heats over eight and a half hours on Saturday. And our two athletic trainers on site reported one small kit, one small cut on a foot.

I testified at the House Finance Committee hearing recently and since I've been the volunteer organizer, organizer of Mil Surfing since the beginning and organized 19 years of high school club surfing prior to that. I'm just here to answer any questions that you may have.

Thank you, Kim. Next, Christopher Sunita, Hana High and Elementary School on Zoom.

Aloha.

Aloha.

Thank you, Chair, Vice Chair and Members of the Committee. Again, my name is Chris Sunita and I'm really in favor of HB133. As an educator and advocate of student opportunities and the principal of Hanaheine Elementary School, this bill is critical in recognizing surfing's cultural, social and economic significance while ensuring equitable access to student athletes across the leagues.

Surfing is deeply rooted in Hawaii's history and identity, serving not only as A recreational activity, but also as an integral part of Native Hawaiian culture. Recognizing this, the Hawaii Department of Education, the board sanctioned surfing as an official sport in 2016.

Beyond its cultural lens and social value, surfing is a major economic driver in the state wise reputation as a world class destination for surfing. Annually, visitors come and visit. I firsthand see the competition and the strategy and the camaraderie of our students.

It is highly valuable and that's why I support it 100% as the principal of Honahan Elementary School. Mahalo.

Thank you, Christopher. Next to testify, Chrislin Simpson. Connie on Zoom. Is Chrislin there?

Chrislin, you have to unmute yourself.

Chrislin.

She's there, but her volume isn't working or. Yeah, she's trying to.

Kristen, we'll come back to you. Why don't you try and fix your issues there? Because we can't hear you. But she is in support. Next to testify, Sarah Fairfield, Executive Director, Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation.

Hello. Come here. Hi. Thank you. I'm. I'm testifying on behalf of the Outrigger Du Kanamoku foundation in favor of HB133. This bill is really about getting the funding, extra kick needed to help our public school clubs get up and running to meet the league minimum thresholds in order to hold tournaments.

And then once three tournaments are held and Maui is already holding one, then HHSAA's bylaws will mandatorily affect a statewide tournament. So we're supporting this because as we are working to sustain Duke Kahanamoku's legacy, we want to help increase the level of competition in water sports all around.

We also think that this is a matter of equity because it will give a lot more kids the access to learn our official state sport. To paraphrase something Dwayne De Soto said recently, we in Hawaii, we sell this dream to the rest of the world about all the wonderful things you can do in the ocean.

Surfing being probably the main thing people think of when they think of Hawaii. But so many kids aren't getting the chance to do those things. Kids that are born and raised here. So please consider this bill. Thank you. Thank you.

Next to testify, Ty Simpson. Connie, Also on Zoom.

Not present on Zoom Chair.

Thank you. His testimony was in support. Is there any? Yes. Chrislin, are you still there? Chrislin?

Chrislin, I'm still having audience.

I guess you were not able to fix your audio issues. Chrislin. Yeah. I'm sorry we can't hear your testimony. But her testimony is in support of House Bill 133. Are there any additional testifiers present who Want to testify? 5. Angela.

Angela Melody Young cares in strong support of the appropriation of funds for surfing at schools. Surfing can help with health, to strengthen us and to teach about balance on a surfboard. So. And we're living in Hawaii, so. So it's something passed down from the previous Hawaiian culture.

And so we should appreciate it for the value of the lessons it teaches us. And also the funding mechanism, I think, was debated about in the previous hearings.

I think if the schools can find partnerships and sponsorships from, for example, financial institutions or nonprofits and organizations that have a lot of financial assets and resources to contribute to the planning, it can really help with a lot of solutions for surfing at schools. Thank you.

Thank you, Angela. That concludes our testifiers Members questions.

Can I ask Yui Terry, I'm reading your testimony about concerns that you state about on Oahu. Surfing's not been proposed by the league. And despite the success MIL has demonstrated, Rahul remains concerns about significant risk factors.

So in addition to the cost asking for, can you elaborate on what these risk factors are and the cost might be associated and also about why surfing's not been proposed by the league?

Sure.

I'll let Bryce introduce herself.

Okay.

Okay. My name is Bryce Kennischerl. I'm the extracurricular administrator for the Department of Ed. I'm also the OIA Executive Director. So when regards to some of the concerns, I think, I think you've heard it from others. One is safety. One is also the liability of the insurance, especially when it comes to the open water. It's the.

Also the.

Because it's also just to ask you in between. Yeah. So is it because all sports have liability, right? I mean, all sports have risk. But is it like because it's the ocean higher? Yes.

Is it open ocean? It's. There's mother nature factors that we're not, you know, really comfortable with. And again, this is all. We're not saying no, but this is things that are the, I guess things that prevent from the. From people bringing it up. But we are exploring.

We're getting some people from surfing community to propose things to us and to see how we can, you know, solve those problems. But as of right now, we haven't had any principal tell us to propose to surfing as a sportier.

Also, I think practices on Oahu might be an area of concern to be able to safely practice. Some schools, you know, they, they're not so close to locations where they might be able to do team practices.

I'm not as familiar with how the clubs work now, but I've been told at least one of the clubs, the students, they practice on their own time and they only show up together for the meets and they participate that way.

So that's not normally allowed in our section.

Sports. Yeah, you would have a practice with a coach and you'd have to follow and we have regulations that MIL is already following, so we would be following that as well.

Business. Would you be teaching if we pass something like this? Because I've been hearing, okay, you know, would allow students who don't know anything about surfing. But this is not. It's like football, right. You got to have some skills before you can even correct the team.

That's part of the concerns when it came to like, so what if there's some student that comes as a beginner surfer. But we've heard from the surfing community that most of these people that are competing are junior lifeguard certified. So that's again, this is stuff that we're just learning in the past few months.

So I don't think it would be one of those where you can just come out and try it out. Yeah, you would have to be pretty drown proof, you know, like you got to be pretty comfortable in the water to be going into surfing.

When I was younger, I used to surf. My uncle had a surfboard concession in Waikiki, so. But I'm not a good surfer. I wasn't a good surfer. So there's a lot of support for this obviously and in the community.

If you had anybody step up, like the Amamiya step up to raise funds for our, for this, for this whole purpose.

I mean, you know, when it comes to funds, whenever we're introducing a new sport, the first thing that we would need from the Legislature is the coaches salaries, both head coaches as well as assistant coaches. And that's something that cannot be raised from, you know, yearly basis from just corporation sponsorships. It would be something that.

Right. But that would help the Legislature as far as the budget wise because again, I'm not even sure the insurance, what we have to take over self insured. Right.

As OIA is insured. So we would go into, we would ask our insurance to see what. And I've spoke to them already, so they said we just have to lay out what our plans would be and they would give us the cost to that.

They didn't give us any idea what it might be.

Not yet. Because we haven't got to the point of what it was going to look like. Yet.

It's hard for us to make decisions, decisions without knowing some of these answers. So, you know, we'll probably end up deferring this for now. If we can't get that information soon. It would be helpful.

Okay.

What would be the specific information that you would need?

The entire. What the cost is, the budget would be?

You know, has OIA talked to anybody within the DOE as to how they would bring about starting this program?

How many. How many certified lifeguards you would need at a practice, what kind of, you know, I guess that's where Keith comes in.

Yeah. So. And then equipment wise, I mean, would they students bring in their own boards? Do they have to be school equipment boards or. There's a lot of stuff.

And then if they get hurt on school equipment, I think as talking with some principals, I think that's part of their hesitancy, just the unknown. And because it is like a water sport and the ocean conditions.

But I think in terms of when we do athletics, we normally provide equipment, equipment, and that way we can ensure that those who should be participating will have that opportunity.

And then you have to transport all the equipment. Unlike, I mean, the surfboards are kind of big, right? To transport.

I mean, it would be. How many on a team would you know that from what we've been presented before, I can only go by with what was presented to me at once. There was three contests, the longboard, short board and the boogie board. And there were three per gender on the longboard and short board.

And it was co ed on the boogie board. And so you could have one surfer do all three, or you could have 15 different people doing it. So I mean, that's just the people who are participating, not the people who are on the side or that are not participating.

And again, this is just one person who told me there are a lot of people. The way they run, I'm not sure how Maui runs it. I'm not sure how other clubs run it.

But this is just one person, that Maui is a scholastic being in itself. And so I know in your testimony you're saying that Oahu has different concerns as Maui or different issues.

The principals have not brought it up as a suggested interscholastic sport. And another thing is, like, when you have football, you can charge people to come to observe. Some of the outdoor sports that happen at the water would be really challenging, I think, to bring in some revenue to help support it.

Okay, thank you. Thank you for the question.

Just. Just a comment. I mean, all these questions can be talked to by The Maui Interscholastic League and find out all the concerns that we have. I mean, they kind of. I know Oahu is different than Maui for sure, but just on a basis, we could get all those answers from what Mil is doing. Right?

We could ask them for, like, for the lifeguards and everything. Yeah, I think you could ask Kim Ball.

And it's. I know that our previous Director, Ray Fujino, he has had some conversations, many conversations earlier.

So we will look at doing that further full discussion before you come back to us and. And ask us.

I can ask them answer some questions. I'm still here, Kimball.

Yeah, we'll get to that. But I think that a longer discussion is needed, and you guys need to iron out some of the concerns raised.

Okay.

Thank you. Okay. I'm told that a testifier. Chrislin Simpson. Connie, has fixed her microphone and would like to testify. Chrislin, Aloha.

Thank you.

Can you hear me? Yes. Yes. Aloha. Honorable Members of the Senate Committee on Education. My name is Chrislin Konohi Sueko Simpson Kane, but many people call me Sissy. I'm a native Hawaiian competitive surfer born and raised on the north shore of Maui in a town called Kaua.

I'm currently a senior and captain for the surf team at King Kekaulike High School on the Island of Maui. Surfing is more than just a sport to me. It is my heritage, my way of life, and my passion. I started surfing before I could even walk, and by the age of three, I was already competing.

Over the years, surfing has shaped me into the person I am today. I am proud to have earned the title of Hawaii state girls 1415 state champion, and I was ranked fourth in the nation for girls shortboarding in 2022.

I have also had the honor of becoming the youngest female to serve Pya Hu Jaws, an iconic big wave spot here in Maui. I have won two mil individual female surf titles for Kekauike High School and recently claimed the inaugural 2024 Honolulua Intersthalastic Finals World cup for the individual female surf division.

In 2022, midway through my 10th grade year, I decided to fully enroll at King Kekauike High School from being homeschooled. This decision was largely influenced by my experiences on the Kekaulike surf team, which I joined in 2021 through my homeschool program, HTA. Being a part of the surf team was transformative. It wasn't just about the surfing.

It was about building camaraderie, learning, leadership, and connecting with peers who share my passion Surfing is a sport that was born here in Hawaii. It is part of our culture, our history and our identity as a native Hawaiian. I'm proud to be a part of the lineage of surfers who have shared the sport with the world.

However, despite its deep cultural roots here in Hawaii, surfing is not fully recognized or supported as a high school across the state. That is why HB 133 is so critical for the future of surfing in Hawaii. We need this bill to pass. We need funding to provide the necessary resources for high school surf teams.

We need it for students like me who have dedicated our lives to surfing and are striving to achieve at the highest levels, but lack the resources and support to do so. Surfing requires year round training, travel and equipment, all of which come with significant costs. Without proper funding, many students are unable to compete at their full potential.

This bill will not only support current high school surfers, but will also help preserve and promote surfing for future generations. HB133 is a step toward recognizing surfing as a legitimate high school sport and providing our youth with the opportunities they need to thrive. Please recognize the importance of passing this bill. Surfing is Hova esport.

It is what makes us unique and what continues to draw people from all over the world. By passing HB 133, you are investing in our future, in the future of surfing and in the future of our Keiki children who deserve to have the resources to pursue their dreams just like I did. Mahalo for your time and consideration.

I humbly ask for your Support in passing HB133 to ensure that surfing is given the recognition, funding and support it deserves in our schools throughout havoc.

Kristen, Thank you. Okay, moving on to our next item. House Bill 961 HD1 relating to education, establishes and appropriates funds for a two year librarian pilot project to serve one school complex on Oahu and one school complex on an island other than Oahu. To testify, Superintendent.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, and Members of the Committee. Teri Ushijima, Assistant Superintendent from the Office of Curriculum and Instructional Design, testifying on behalf of the Department of Education. The Department stands on its written testimony which provides comments on this measure.

The Department wishes to point out the challenges it may encounter in hiring a certified labor librarian and hopes that any appropriations does not adversely affect the department's Governor approved budget. Thank you for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Next to testify, Benjamin Bess.

Not here. Next to testify was Osa Tui, Jr., President of the Hawaii State Teachers Foundation Association.

Aloha Chair and Vice Chair. Sarah Milianta-Laffin on behalf of the Hawaii State Teachers Association. We were really excited to see this Bill come forward. I'm going to speak as my experience as a middle school teacher, I was very surprised to learn that only 28% of Hawaii schools have a certified librarian.

And as a teacher, when I got to my school, I was trying to do a lesson on wayfaring. So I wanted to go talk to the librarian to ask her what recommended books she had or websites or resources. And I found out my school doesn't have a librarian.

A lot of schools don't because principals tell us it's cheaper to hire someone to just scan the books and hand them to the kids than actually have a library science major on staff. People who are library science majors have extra skills. You have a master's degree.

You are really able to curate the selection. Because as a teacher, I don't have time to research what's the newest books out or the best way to teach a certain subject. Especially in this digital age of misinformation and AI, we need library science people in our libraries. The kids deserve it. Please support. Mahalo.

Mahalo. Next to testify. Meera Garud on zoom.

Aloha. Mahalo for this opportunity to testify. My name is Meera Garud, testifying in support. I'd like to take this opportunity to draw attention to a related Bill, HB 962, just to see if language from that Bill could be included on this Bill.

HB 962 has really valuable information about the positive impact of school librarians on student learning and also the current inequity of access for students that live on our neighbor islands where there are very few school librarians.

If it is easy to add language from that Bill to this one, the information I'm referring to in HB 962 is everything on page one and lines one through two on page two. Mahalo for your consideration.

Thank you Meera. Is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure? If not, moving on to...question.

Do we know or do you know the intent of the introducer on how many librarians we're talking about? Because it's blank in the Bill.

Yeah, I believe it's two. Two certified librarians.

So with two certified librarians, how they listen to the testimony from everyone seems as though they believe that they would each have a librarian in their school. Is that possible with two certified librarians?

So my understanding of this Bill is that it would be a pilot where you would one certified librarian that helps a complex. For example Moanalua. A complex is a high school, middle and a feeder elementary school. And so one would be on Oahu, one complex, and another would be on a neighbor island.

And how would that work? Then you have one for our complex on the schools.

So they would go and help the schools as needed. They might do some collective training or follow up.

You're talking about one.

One. Yeah. One for the complex would be servicing the schools. The elementary, middle. I think Wanla would be six probably. But if it were like Radford complex coming from IM1 Radford it would be more like 9. So it could vary depending on how many schools are in the complex.

Name is Ewell Beach because I always hear my colleague talk about how his school has no librarian at all. So how would that work?

There's schools that do not have librarians. There's I think when we looked at our numbers was it let me find that page.

It's we have I think 8- like 6- don't we have 80 something librarians?

60 certified librarians and then 14 non certified librarians across the state. And the rest of the schools are serviced with either like part time teachers or teachers that wear multiple hats.

So when you say non certified?

So they'd be like a teacher without their library degree but they're a teacher that's in the library position.

And the cost for that would be?

Would be like a teacher.

The certified librarians are still part of the Bargaining Unit 5. So I went to library school. So I have a library degree also. That was my dream after being a classroom teacher. My plan was to be a school librarian. So maybe my next job.

But it's really when we go to library school it's a, it's at least a two year program. It's a master's program. You, you learn cataloging, you learn information science.

But the pay for a certified librarian is more than...

No, it's not. It's. I believe it's still the same. It's just that if it's like if another teacher had a master's degree and something else they would still follow the same pace skill.

It's just harder to get a certified librarian then?

it is because our informal inquiry into the University Library School there's very few graduates now going into school library. There's different kinds of library, but school library because there's not as many positions, it's not as in demand. I think those who go into library school might be choosing different types...

And that's one of your concerns you raise.

Yes. And when we do the teacher hiring process because they're considered part of that pool, that's happening right now.

So by the time we know in summer we would have to go off a new hire list and we don't know if there are certified librarians within that pool, although we never know there might be people who apply knowing this could happen. Thank you. Thank you.

Why couldn't the certified, the current certified librarians do a rotating schedule already in these complexes or are they set for the position on that specific school?

They're hired at that school. So it's possible to maybe if they were to be temporarily assigned, I guess to do something like this and backfill this their school, but that means their school would not have a certified librarian then.

I mean, I mean the other school obviously doesn't have a certified librarian. So this could help offset. I mean this is basically doing that, right? Having a rotating schedule for a pilot for one position on Oahu and one position on Neighbor Island. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Now fourth one. Okay, moving on to House Bill 754 HD2 relating to community schools, appropriate funds to the Department of Education for community schools and a program manager position. To testify Superintendent.

Aloha Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. I'm Elizabeth Igashi, the Assistant Superintendent of the Office of Strategy Innovation Performance testifying on behalf of the Department. The Department stands on its written testimony providing comments on this measure.

The Department supports the benefits of community schools, but requests that any appropriation does not adversely affect the department's Governor approved budget. Thank you so much for the opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Paula Adams, Executive Director, Hawaii Afterschool alliance.

Hi Chair Kidani, Chair Kim. I'm Paula Adams with the Hawaii Afterschool Alliance. And as you know, the community schools function as the hub of the community where community resources are coordinated to support the needs of the school, the kids and the families.

And I wanted to share some examples of the 26 schools that are using this strategy to support the students. One is example about the partnership with community Members. It is the Hawaii School for the Deaf of the Blind.

When the students have been dorming on campus coming from the other islands and for the last 2020 years they had they only were able to receive cold meals for dinner. But thanks to the partnership with community Members, they are now receiving hot meals for dinner.

The other example is Dole Middle Schools where they're also thank for the partnership with different community Members and the school's administrators, their regular attendance, language arts proficiency, math proficiency and science proficiency has increased from the last year to this year.

Lastly, we also share in the written testimony and the principal at Mauna Lua Elementary School also presented testimony in front of the Board of Education about how the regular attendance at school has increased dramatically from the school year 2022-2023, 2023-2024.

With attendance also came that increase in language arts proficiency, increasing from 13% to 32% and math went from 6% to 32%.

The last example that I wanted to share with you is about Cow High School where I talked to the principal this morning where she shared that last year the graduation rate for high school students was of 95%.

So these examples are showing how community schools partnering with community Members are helping and supporting the needs of the kids and the families. Thank you for supporting this Bill. Thank you for Paula.

Next to Testify, Herb Lee Jr. President and CEO, Pacific American Foundation.

Aloha. Aloha Chair and Vice Chair and Member Kanuha I submitted my testimony and I just want to say that I'm one of the community nonprofit organizations that provide community school support for specifically Wallo Elementary Intermediate and Olamana on the island of Oahu.

And I believe that, you know, it is a great program, it's a great investment for our schools and that most of it is focused on schools with the highest needs.

But I hope eventually it'll be something that every community can have because I think it's a great investment in terms of building relationships that are just not focused only on money, but on other issues that can bring resources to help in the learning journey of both the teacher, families and students.

I'll be happy to answer any questions that you might have.

Thank you.

Thank you. Next testify, Osatui Jr. Way State Teachers Association.

Aloha Chair and Vice Chair Sarah Milianta Laffin on behalf of HSTA True Community schools are magical places where everyone cares about kids. It gets a community invested. It gets the kids invested. You see better success for healthy eating. You see better success on social emotional learning.

They are really all schools should have a goal of being community schools. Our parent union, the National Education Association, gives examples of community schools becoming a place where students can get eyeglasses if they need it or medical evaluations, where families can get resources for food banks or clothing.

And really, as we come to a place where we know some of our families are hurting, community schools are going to be the answer to help out our Keiki. Please support this measure thank you.

Ryan Yamani, Director, Department of Human Services.

Foreign.

Chair, Committee Members, Aloha. My name is Catherine Coronada, Department of Human Services on behalf of Director Ryan Yaman and the Department stands on its written testimony of support. Thank you.

Thank you. Is anyone else you're wishing to testify on this measure go forward. State your name.

Aloha Kidani, Vice Chair Mercado Kim and Senator Kanuha.

My name is Erica Nakanishi Stanis. I am the advocacy Director for Hawaii Keats Can. We're here in strong support of House Bill 754. Given the seismic shifts that we're seeing at the federal level, we need to bolster our local capacity to take care of ourselves.

When I meet with teachers, even yesterday at the counseling and advising convening, teachers often tell me and counselors that they either don't know of the resources out there or they don't have time to vet them, find the best option, build, and maintain relationships to take advantage of those opportunities.

There's a wealth of people out there who want to support our schools. But if we don't invest in coordinating that abundance by paying for it, it becomes a burden on teachers and schools or worse, a gap for our students to fall through. So thank you for your consideration of this, of this motion and opportunity to testify.

Thank you. Members, questions? Is there anyone else here wishing to testify in this measure?

Aloha. Angela Melody Young, testifying in strong support of Community Schools. So Community Schools, from the limited understanding that I do have of it. I attended one of the hearings with the Hoya After School Alliance. As we are registered with the database. CARE is our after school program which operates from our church.

So I think the goal is to create a network and to get parents, after school program leaders, students to collaborate, to share resources, to get to common goals. And above and beyond the standardized test scores, to prove the skill set and the engineering and the students studying harder.

I think it will really help get together people to create partnerships to support each other. Yeah and to get to common goals. Thank you.

Thank you, Angela. Anyone else here wishing to testify this measure? Thank you.

Just want to make one statement. When you come and testify and your Department and you say that you support something as long as it doesn't affect the priorities for your Department. Think about it, the money's got to come from somewhere. Okay. So if you're going to support something, you know, you shouldn't put that into your testimony.

And not just you, a lot of departments do that. But if it's really good, then we should have it whether, you know, it should be part of the budget, but it's got to come somewhere.

So I just hope everybody knows whenever you ask for these programs and if it's not part of the original budget, that has got to come out of some part of the pie. It doesn't just appear. So just keep that in mind as we go forward because that's what we have to do.

So we don't like to say no. But then when we have to add it all up, like in your house when you have to do your budget, something has to give, right. If you add something new to your budget. So keep that in mind.

So if DOE really wants this, then something on your budget might get cut for it. Just keep that in mind. Thank you.

And to follow up with that, you know, also going through this, I mean this is sure it could be a Governor priority, but these are going through the Legislature right now and these might be legislative priorities that we feel is necessary for all these different departments.

So saying that I did have a question for DOE though. In terms of you know, CSI, MRI schools, you know, some of the requirements are engaging with community, right? Correct. Why doesn't all the schools engage with community?

That is something that all of our schools do, but for our CSI MRI schools, this was a required model that we require them to take on as part of their action plans. And so funding that goes along with CSI MRI schools was specifically allocated for them to implement this model.

So there are many different strategies that our schools utilize to engage community, and this is just one of those strategies.

Thank you. So we're on House Bill 1437 HD2 relating to the General excise tax exemptions. Establishes a general excise tax exemption on the gross proceeds of gross income received from sales of commodities or services that benefit nonprofit schools. To testify, Gary Suganuma, Director of Taxation.

Good afternoon Chair, Vice Chair, Members of the Committee. Clinton Piper, Department of Taxation Just have some supplement to our written comments. That would be the revenue impact for 2026.

We're looking at a potent estimated loss of 0.4 million, 0.9 million in years 2027, 28, 29 and 30 with a 1 million loss in 31. Thank you. Other than that, I will stand on my...

Tom Yamachika, Tax Foundation of Hawaii.

Good afternoon, Chair Members of the Committee. This is Jade McMillen on behalf of the Tax Foundation of Hawaii. We've submitted comments on the measure. Our comments include mention of a similar Legislative effort to remove the GET from fundraising. Fundraising for nonprofit that legislation was vetoed by Governor Ige.

So There is some question as to how this Bill would really take out. And we also wonder why the nonprofit schools would get treatment, special treatment, than other organizations. Thank you.

Thank you. Phil Bossert, Executive Director, Hawaii Association of Independent Schools.

Aloha Chair Kidani, Vice Chair Kim, Senator Kanuha. I'm Phil Bossert, Executive Director of HAIS and we stand in very strong support of this Bill and we stand on our testimony. Just want to clarify several things. One, public school fundraisers are already tax exempt under the law.

And almost all of the funding that is raised from these nonprofit fundraisers that schools run are just another form of a donation. The people who come to the fundraisers are parents and aunties and uncles of the students.

And so instead of writing a check and making a donation which would be tax exempt, they're showing up as a form of engagement at the school and, and buying stuff they don't really want and eating food they don't really like in order to support the school.

So we do really, we'd like the same treatment that you are providing to the public schools. Thank you.

Thank you, Phil. Is there anyone else here wishing to testify on this measure?

Aloha, Angela Melody Young, CARES, in strong support of public school fundraisers and a tax exemption for it. I actually studied this at the Patsy Mink YWCA Business Leadership Course.

So it's really helpful and I think the way I interpret it without distorting the bill's intention, is that it's going to be very helpful to those who are in public schools which are generally middle class, marginalized, low income communities. And so to create an exemption is really helpful for them to create that equity by legislation.

And also nonprofits who don't have to pay additional taxes and have a tax exemption I think is generally because nonprofits have operations to fund charity work.

And so if we consider all of these things and to be as helpful as possible to get the funding exemptions for middle class families and low income families, it'd be really nice. Thank you.

Thank you.

Aloha Chair and Vice Chair, Sarah Milianta-Laffin on behalf of HSCA. Just being honest, with the federal situation happening right now, we're going to be struggling to pay for services. Seeing that I'm a Title 1 teacher, I'm already scared for what that means for my school and my kids.

So it's really not the right time to give private schools a tax break, to be honest. And that right with the uncertainty that we're already facing, especially with the private school abandonment of public schools that is already happening, we really have to consider this and we oppose this. Thank you.

Thank you. Questions? Anyone else are wishing to testify on this measure? Recess. Going to recess.

Reconvening Committee on education. Decision making, we have looking at House Bill 429. We're going to pass with amendments and defect the date to July 1, 2050. Members, comments? Questions?

Okay, so decision on HB 429, House Draft 1 to pass with amendments. Chair Kidani. Aye. Vice Chair votes aye. Senator Hashimoto. Aye. Senator Kanuha. Aye. Senator DeCorte. Aye. Five ayes. Recommendation is adopted.

House Bill 133, HD2 relating to surfing, recommendation is to the same defective date to July pass with effecting the date to July 1, 2050.

So just to make a statement that, you know, the Committee really struggled on this measure because the whole purpose of the measure is to appropriate funds. So we're considering taking off the funds and just sanctioning it as a support. But again, the Bill is specific. It appropriates funds.

So we're going to pass that on to Ways and Means to look at the funding. But at this point, if you guys cannot come up with the funding and give us something more concrete, it's unlikely that funds would be appropriated and to iron out all the issues. But.

So we will defect the date and send it to Ways and Means. Just so that you guys know.

Just to be clear, we're not objecting to this point of safety, this and that.

Sorry. And that's. I mean, four of us are in Ways and Means. So we're gonna ask for a lot of that information when it does come to the Committee, if it does pass out of this Committee.

Thank you.

Okay. Recommendation is to pass with amendments. HB133, House Draft 2. Is there anyone here voting with reservations? Anyone voting no. Hearing none. Five Members present. Recommendation to pass with amendments is adopted.

Thank you. House Bill 961, HD1 relating to education. This is for the two year library and pilot program. Recommendation of the Chair is to pass with amendments and defect the date to July 1, 2050. Okay.

Any Member voting no on House Bill 961, House Draft 1 with amendments. Any Member voting reservation? Hearing none. Five Members present. All Vote aye. Recommendations adopted.

Hospital 754. HD 2 relating to community schools. Recommendation of the chair is to defer. Objections. House Bill 1437 HD 2 relating to General excise tax exemptions. Recommendation of the chair is to defer. Thank you.

Is there any objections?