HCR11

WHEREAS, Hawaii's public charter schools serve a critical role as laboratories of innovation in the State's education system; and

WHEREAS, In the 2024-2025 school year, the total enrollment for Hawaii charter schools exceeded thirteen hundred students; and

WHEREAS, the Hawaii charter school sector continues to grow since the COVID-19 pandemic; however, despite the growing population of youth being enrolled in charter schools, public charter schools struggle to secure and pay for their own school buildings; and

WHEREAS, many charter schools have been forced to operate out of tents, old offices and former restaurants when space is scarce, sometimes searching for years for permanent facilities that can keep up with their growth; and

WHEREAS, lack of funding for, and availability of, proper facilities has been a long-standing issue for charter schools nationally and locally, forcing some charter schools in the State to hold classes outdoors, on covered lanais, or in unstable temporary structures; and

WHEREAS, Hālau Lokahi, which closed in 2015, spent roughly $33,000 a month on facilities, in addition, Kamalani Academy used more than half its budget roughly $39,000 to rent an old Catholic school campus in Wahiawā; and

WHEREAS, despite the Department of Accounting and General Services and Department of Education being mandated to conduct biennial surveys and submit biennial reports relating to any unused state facility that may be used for public charter schools, the departments have not identified any such facility; and

WHEREAS, unused or underutilized state facilities would help alleviate the lack of proper facilities for public charter schools, despite the closure of many small public schools; and

WHEREAS, allowing charters to share campus space with shrinking Department of Education schools would create more educational options for families; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the Senate concurring, that the Board of Education, in partnership with the State Public Charter School Commission, is requested to submit a report on increasing access to stable, suitable, and affordable facilities for public charter schools, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2027; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that in preparing the report, the Board of Education is requested to:

(1) Assess why no unused facilities have been identified by the appropriate state departments;

(2) Propose changes in policy or practice in establishing an affirmative duty to connect charter schools with unused or underutilized facilities, along with increased accountability and oversight over unused facilities;

(3) Obtain and publish an updated list from the Department of Education of unused or underutilized facilities;

(4) Identify Department of Education public schools with low enrollment that could share their facilities to house charter schools;

(5) Coordinate with the School Facilities Authority to include public charter school facilities as a priority for the Authority;

(6) Assess the amount of federal funds or land that are available to benefit eligible public charter school facilities in the State but are not being accessed; and

(7) Assess the feasibility of expanding the range of financing options for public charter schools, such as tax-exempt bonds, credit enhancement programs, and revolving loan funds; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Comptroller, Chairperson of the Board of Education, Superintendent of Education, Executive Director of the State Public Charter School Commission, and Executive Director of the School Facilities Authority.

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.C.R. NO.	11
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII