CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REP. NO. 138

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2021

RE: S.B. No. 814

S.D. 1

H.D. 1

C.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2021

State of Hawaii

Sirs:

Your Committee on Conference on the disagreeing vote of the Senate to the amendments proposed by the House of Representatives in S.B. No. 814, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS,"

having met, and after full and free discussion, has agreed to recommend and does recommend to the respective Houses the final passage of this bill in an amended form.

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require members of the State Public Charter School Commission to collectively possess strong experience and expertise in various fields;

(2) Allow the authorizer's staff to provide technical support up until the completed charter application is submitted;

(3) Clarify charter application notice requirements; and

(4) Clarify authorizer compliance requirements in cases of an appeal.

Your Committee on Conference finds that the charter school processes for new school applicants, contract renewals, and contract negotiation are inconsistent, difficult to navigate, and lack transparency. This measure will allow applicants to cure any deficiencies with their application rather than be automatically denied for nonsubstantive reasons and streamlines the charter school application process to ensure that approvals are obtained in a consistent and transparent manner.

Your Committee on Conference amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the members of the State Public Charter School Commission shall collectively possess experience and expertise in public or nonprofit governance, management and finance, assessment, and public education;

(2) Removing language that allowed an authorizer's staff to provide technical support to a prospective charter school applicant or applicant governing board;

(3) Removing the letter of intent as part of the application process for charter schools;

(4) Clarifying that the applicant governing board may cure any deficiency with their application within the application period;

(5) Removing language that provided that if an authorizer takes any action that prohibits any applicant from proceeding with an application for any reason, then the action would be deemed a denial and subject to appeal;

(6) Changing the effective date to July 1, 2021; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the managers of your Committee on Conference that is attached to this report, your Committee on Conference is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 814, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Final Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 814, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, C.D. 1.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the managers:

ON THE PART OF THE HOUSE

ON THE PART OF THE SENATE

____________________________ JUSTIN H. WOODSON Co-Chair	____________________________ MICHELLE N. KIDANI Chair
____________________________ GREGGOR ILAGAN Co-Chair	____________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE Co-Chair