Bill Text: HI HR171 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced

Hawaii House Resolution 171 (Prior Session Legislation)

Introduced

Bill Title: School Safety; Crime; Task Force

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 21-4)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-19 - Referred to EDN, PBS, FIN, referral sheet 40 [HR171 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-HR171-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	171
TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

REQUESTING the EstablishMENT OF a task force to STUDY AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS regarding school safety.

WHEREAS, the Legislature finds that schools should be places of safety and security for children of all ages; and

WHEREAS, the tragic 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, highlights the need to re-evaluate safety procedures currently in place; and

WHEREAS, although the doors to the school automatically locked once classes began and identification was demanded of visitors, the perpetrator, a stranger to the school, was able to force his way into the school, where he killed twenty children and six adults; and

WHEREAS, according to witnesses, school staff attempted to protect students by locking classroom doors, hiding them in closets, or barricading them in other rooms; and

WHEREAS, in the wake of that and similar tragedies, the State of Hawaii should examine ways to increase school security; and

WHEREAS, due to such tragedies, a number of Hawaii public school teachers have requested that they have the capability to lock classroom doors from the inside of a classroom, without the need to open the doors; and

WHEREAS, while the crimes committed at the Newtown, Connecticut school shooting were particularly heinous, statistics show that it is more likely that such violent acts at schools tend to be perpetrated by students or individuals who are already attending or working within a school; and

WHEREAS, such incidents can be prevented in part through, among other factors, building respect within schools, and addressing student needs; and

WHEREAS, the Department of Education has a Safety Committee comprised of its Superintendents, whose members meet quarterly to review and discuss safety-related issues; and

WHEREAS, public schools in Hawaii also have school-level Safety Committees, established through the Department of Education's internal policies, that are designed to meet quarterly, discuss safety-related issues such as injuries, drills, and emergency measures, and provide minutes of their meetings to the Department's Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness Branch; and

WHEREAS, unlike other States, Hawaii has a statewide public education system, which is the tenth largest public school system in the nation; and

WHEREAS, unlike Hawaii, large education systems in some other jurisdictions have their own police forces; and

WHEREAS, due to the uniqueness of Hawaii's school system, cooperation between the Department of Education and county law enforcement officers is crucial to the promotion of school safety; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, that the Department of Education is requested to establish a Task Force that will study and make recommendations on the enhancement of safety in all Hawaii schools; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that, more specifically, the Task Force is requested to study and make determinations regarding:

(1) The effectiveness of current school safety measures such as lockdowns and emergency drills;

(2) Verification on whether school safety measures are continuing to improve;

(3) The need for the appropriation of funds toward promoting school safety, with a focus on the funding of the professional development of law enforcement officers for the purpose of instructing them on crime prevention within schools;

(4) The propriety of amending relevant law to allow the installation of locking mechanisms that safely lock a door from the inside of a classroom;

(5) The feasibility of:

(A) Replacing locks on existing public school classroom doors with mechanisms that lock from inside the classroom, whenever the existing locks need to be replaced due to wear and tear, damage, or other related reasons; and

(B) Fitting any new public school classroom doors with mechanisms that lock from inside the classroom;

provided that such a feasibility analysis is requested to include, among other factors, a consideration of the safety needs of students, teachers, school administrators, and other school employees;

(6) Whether policies on the locking of public school classroom doors should be determined by a school's administrators or by the Superintendent of Education;

(7) Whether the duties of the Department of Education's Superintendents' Safety Committee and the School Safety Committees should be codified in the Hawaii Revised Statutes;

(8) Whether laws should be amended in other ways to ensure that preparations of schools within this State are adequate in reducing student vulnerability to violent crimes;

(9) The propriety of an expedited procedure for private schools to obtain school safety improvement funding through the application process for grants and subsidies established under chapter 42F, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

(10) Any other issues relevant to school safety in Hawaii; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Task Force Membership is requested to include at least the following:

(1) The Superintendent of Education, or the Superintendent's designee;

(2) The Attorney General, or the Attorney General's designee;

(3) The Director of Finance, or the director's designee;

(4) The Chair of the Senate Committee on Education;

(5) The Chair of the Senate Committee on Public Safety, Intergovernmental, and Military Affairs;

(6) The Chair of the House Committee on Education;

(7) The Chair of the House Committee on Public Safety;

(8) One representative of each of the Police Departments of the Counties of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii, and the City and County of Honolulu;

(9) One representative of each of the Fire Departments of the Counties of Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii, and the City and County of Honolulu;

(10) The Director of the Department of Education's Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness Branch, or the director's designee;

(11) The Director of the Charter School Administrative Office, or the director's designee;

(12) The Executive Director of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, or the executive director's designee; and

(13) The Superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools, or the superintendent's designee; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Education is requested to submit a report to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2014, containing the recommendations and determinations of the Task Force, including any proposed legislation; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force is requested to be dissolved on June 30, 2014; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Board of Education, the Superintendent of Education, the Attorney General, the Director of Finance, the Chiefs of Police of the counties within the State, the Fire Chiefs of the counties within the State, the Director of the Department of Education's Safety, Security, and Emergency Preparedness Branch, the Director of the Charter School Administrative Office, the Executive Director of the Hawaii Association of Independent Schools, and the Superintendent of Hawaii Catholic Schools.