STAND. COM. REP. NO. 160

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 818

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 818 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGISTS,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Establish licensure requirements for school psychologists to be administered by the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board; and

(2) Specify that school psychologists who are employed by an educational institution and practice only within a school setting shall be exempt from licensure under chapter 465, Hawaii Revised Statutes.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawai‘i Teacher Standards Board, Hawai‘i Association of School Psychologists, and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Hawai‘i Psychological Association. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Education, Department of the Attorney General, University of Hawai‘i System, and Board of Psychology.

Your Committee finds that school psychologists provide effective services to help children and youth succeed academically, socially, behaviorally, and emotionally by providing direct educational and mental health services for children and youth, as well as working with parents, educators, and other professionals to create supportive learning and social environments for all children. Your Committee further finds that Hawaii is the only state without certification of licensure for school psychologists, resulting in the State being unable to seek warranted reimbursements from the federal medicaid program for the use of school psychologists in an educational setting. This measure establishes a licensure program to ensure the employment of qualified school psychologists and to allow schools utilizing school psychologists to properly seek available federal medicaid funds.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the Hawaii Teacher Standards Board shall determine the manner in which an individual may obtain a license to practice school psychology;

(2) Deleting language that specified the duties of a licensed school psychologist;

(3) Deleting language that would have established initial school psychologist licenses and continuing school psychologist licenses; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 818, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 818, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,

________________________________

MICHELLE N. KIDANI, Chair