STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1730
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2021
RE: S.C.R. No. 203
Honorable Scott K. Saiki
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2021
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Education, to which was referred S.C.R. No. 203 entitled:
"SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION URGING THE BOARD OF EDUCATION TO FORM A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OR PERMITTED INTERACTION GROUP TO MONITOR AND ACCOUNT FOR HOW THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IS SPENDING ITS FEDERAL RELIEF FUNDS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The
purpose of this measure is to urge the Board of
Education to form a special committee or permitted interaction group to monitor
and account for how the Department of Education is spending its federal relief
funds.
Your Committee finds that the Coronavirus
Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, Public Law 116-136, created the
Education Stabilization Fund to provide emergency funding for education
systems, and within that fund is the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency
Relief (ESSER) Fund, which awards funds to states based on their relative share
of Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) grants for fiscal year 2019. Your Committee further finds that in May
2020, the Department of Education applied for
Hawaii's share of relief funds from the United States Department of Education
and received $43,385,229.
Your Committee additionally finds that on
December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Coronavirus Response and Relief
Supplemental Appropriations (CRRSA) Act, Public Law 116-260, 2021, which
authorized $900,000,000,000 in stimulus relief through various programs and a
$1,400,000,000,000 omnibus spending package.
Your Committee notes that states that received certain federal funds,
including funds from the ESSER Fund established by the CARES ACT and the CRRSA
Act, are required to assure that they will maintain support for education programs.
Although the Department of Education has
reported its use of ESSER funds on a monthly basis, there has been a lack of
transparency and accountability in how the Department of Education and their
schools have utilized their funds to service students. Furthermore, there
are ongoing concerns with the manner in which the Department of Education has
been utilizing these ESSER funds, as well as disagreements between the Board of
Education and Department of Education on how funds should be spent. This measure urges the Board of
Education to form a group to oversee the use of those federal funds and ensure
that there is transparency and accountability in how the Department of
Education and their schools utilize the funds to service students.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Education that is attached to this report, your Committee concurs with the intent and purpose of S.C.R. No. 203 and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Education,
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____________________________ JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair |
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