Bill Text: HI HR56 | 2021 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Education To Create A Landscape Management Plan With Goals To Increase Tree Canopies On Public School Grounds, Document Existing Inventory And Talent, And Identify Additional Resources Required To Implement And Sustain The Plan.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-0)

Status: (Passed) 2021-03-31 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR56 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2021-HR56-Introduced.html

---

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	56
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of education to create A LANDSCAPE MANAGEMENT PLAN WITH goals to increase tree canopies on Public school grounds, document existing inventory and talent, and IDENTIFY additional resources REQUIRED to IMPLEMENT AND SUSTAIN THE PLAN.

 

 

 

     WHEREAS, the average temperature in Hawaii has increased over two degrees since 1950; and

 

     WHEREAS, the increase in hot days makes it difficult for students to learn at school; and

 

     WHEREAS, as a result, the Department of Education has responded with a heat abatement plan, and the State has invested in air conditioning for over one thousand three hundred classrooms; and

 

     WHEREAS, school grounds enhance student learning and success, as they offer a venue for play, outdoor learning, and social gatherings; and

 

     WHEREAS, on very hot days, these activities become uncomfortable and even unsafe; and

 

     WHEREAS, trees lower temperatures through shade, transpiration, and reduction of the heat island effect; and

 

     WHEREAS, increasing the tree canopy on school grounds will enable students to continue to play, learn, and gather outside, even as the temperature rises; and

 

     WHEREAS, trees on school campuses will also absorb storm water, clean the air, beautify campuses, and help reach county and state environmental goals; and

     WHEREAS, an abundance of trees on school campuses would help cool each campus and provide a multitude of learning opportunities, including learning the role trees play in the overall health of the ecosystem, cultural uses of indigenous trees, tree propagation and care, commercial uses of trees, and participation in community programs that promote tree planting; and

 

     WHEREAS, currently, there are fragmented initiatives to plant trees on different campuses; and

 

     WHEREAS, increasing the tree canopy on school grounds statewide requires the creation of tools by the Department of Education to guide tree selection, placement, and care; and

 

     WHEREAS, one tool needed is a Tree Manual with current arboricultural principals and industry standards; and

 

     WHEREAS, another tool needed is a landscape management plan that would help set, meet statewide timelines and deliverables, and be updated every five years; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that the Department of Education is requested to create a landscape management plan with goals to increase tree canopies on public school grounds, document existing inventory and talent, and identify additional resources required to implement and sustain the plan; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Superintendent of Education and Chairperson of the Board of Education.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title: 

Tree Canopy; School Grounds; Department of Education; Goals