STAND. COM. REP. NO. 332

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2023

RE: H.B. No. 1045

H.D. 1

Honorable Scott K. Saiki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2023

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Education, to which was referred H.B. No. 1045 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO EDUCATION,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to adjust the responsibility of producing a certificate of release when transferring schools from the minor student to the student's parent or legal guardian, unless the student is an emancipated minor.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Education.

Your Committee finds that existing law requires a student under the age of eighteen who is transferring to another school to submit to the enrolling school a certificate of release obtained from the school last attended. Your Committee further finds that because minors do not have legal capacity independent of their parents, a parent or legal guardian of the minor student should have responsibility for producing and submitting such certificate of release, unless the student is an emancipated minor.

Your Committee notes that under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, unaccompanied homeless youth are considered to be those youth who are not in the physical custody of a parent or legal guardian and experiencing unstable housing. McKinney-Vento eligible students, including unaccompanied youth, are entitled to enroll

in school immediately, even if the student is lacking documents normally required for enrollment or have missed application or enrollment deadlines.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Exempting students eligible for assistance provided under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, including unaccompanied youth who are not under the physical custody of a parent or legal guardian, from the requirements to produce a certificate of release or a certificate of proficiency, or a lawful excuse for its absence, when transferring schools;

(2) Changing its effective date to June 30, 3000; and

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

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 H.B. No. 1045, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1045, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Judiciary & Hawaiian Affairs.

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

____________________________

JUSTIN H. WOODSON, Chair