HONOLULU — State officials have new tools to protect children and seniors in Hawai‘i from harm under several bills signed into law.
Legislation enacted Monday by Gov. Josh Green also will provide more money for a summer food program for students in low-income households and abolish a salary cap for the state schools superintendent.
Green, who signed 16 bills on Monday largely pertaining to child welfare, education and senior care, highlighted five measures during a ceremony in his office at the state Capitol.
One of the highlighted measures authorizes an emergency public alert system to help find missing people who are at least 65 years old or have cognitive or developmental impairments.
The Silver Alert Program being created under Senate Bill 2305 will be similar to the state’s Maile Amber Alert program, which can be used when police think a child has been abducted and is in danger.
Another highlighted measure, Senate Bill 2475, allows creation of a centralized database with names of employees, contractors and volunteers at public or private schools in Hawai‘i who have been found, after investigation, to have inflicted harm on a student.
This “harm to students registry” maintained by DOE will allow public and private school administrators to avoid working with people on the list.
“This has been a very big deal, because we’re worried about individuals that could inflict harm against our students,” Green said.
Sen. Michelle Kidani, chair of the Senate Committee on Education, said SB 2475 closes a loophole that had allowed predators without criminal convictions to acquire jobs at different schools undetected.
“As a grandmother of public school children, I understand firsthand the importance of these measures and share the concerns of many parents regarding the safety of their keiki,” Kidani (D, Mililani Town-Waipio Gentry-Royal Kunia) said during the ceremony. “Every day, we entrust our schools with the most precious members of our families, hoping and expecting that they will be cared for and protected.”
Another new law to protect Hawaii schoolchildren requires teachers to forfeit teaching licenses if they resign or retire while an investigation is pending into allegations of sexual assault, sexual harassment or other physical abuse of a student.
This law, stemming from House Bill 2400, also requires that the license forfeiture be reported to the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification.
“There are not many cases like this, but it scares us when any one student could be harmed,” Green said. “So this is absolutely important legislation. And what the Legislature was saying, in essence, was it’s unacceptable for anyone, any teacher, who’s been accused of a serious misconduct to evade accountability.”
Schools Superintendent Keith Hayashi said he was honored to witness the signing of what he called crucial bills to protect students, and he thanked stakeholders including private school leaders and lawmakers who helped get the legislation passed.
“Together we are making school safe and stronger for every student in our state,” Hayashi said.
Another highlighted bill relating to schools will add state revenue to a federally funded program that provides financial assistance to feed public school students in low-income households.
The federal program known as Summer EBT, or SUN Bucks, provides $177 per month per qualifying child to beneficiary households on a debit card that can be used to buy groceries from vendors that accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.
During the 2023 summer break, the state Department of Human Services allocated $18 million under a similar federal program it administers. Through House Bill 2430 signed by Green, $2 million in state funding is being appropriated to DHS to increase the total amount available under SUN Bucks.
“It’s matching $18 million in federal funding, so it becomes a $20 million boost for nutrition for our children,” Green said.
The last bill signed and highlighted by the governor Monday was House Bill 2224, which appropriates $79,872 for the state Executive Office on Aging to develop and implement a long-term care plan. The money, according to the office, will fund a planning position that was deleted during a 2005 reorganization that inhibited executing long-term care policies.
Green also signed 11 other bills Monday largely pertaining to child welfare and education.
One of the bills, Senate Bill 3087, authorizes preschools to be established in state buildings. Lt. Gov. Sylvia Luke said about 45 preschool classrooms are slated to open in August after 13 in 2023, and that two libraries are being looked at for classrooms.
Another measure, Senate Bill 2245, clarifies when police may take protective custody of a child and when DHS may assume temporary foster custody of a child under exigent circumstances starting July 1, 2025.
And Senate Bill 3207 removes a $250,000 salary cap for the state schools superintendent, leaving full discretion on pay for the position to the state Board of Education. Hayashi currently earns $240,000. Lawmakers imposed a $150,000 cap in 2001 and then raised the limit to $250,000 in 2014.
