SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the constitutional amendments to article X, section 2, of the Hawaii State Constitution that were adopted by the legislature and ratified by the electorate in the 2010 general election eliminated the election of members to the board of education and now requires the governor to nominate and, with the advice and consent of the senate, appoint the members of the board of education. Among other things, this change was made to hold the governor accountable for public education. While by most accounts the new board of education is an improvement and is functioning well overall, some fine-tuning is necessary to truly hold the governor accountable. One consistent complaint from the public about having an appointed board of education is that the board no longer appears to be closely connected to our communities.

The legislature further finds that Hawaii is unique in that it is one state-wide school district so that the board of education is both the state board of education and the local school board. Typically, local school boards are closely connected to their communities while the state board of education may be more distant.

The purpose of this Act is to reconstitute the board of education to ensure that the board of education returns to acting as the local school board and reconnects to their communities and to hold the governor accountable for its nominations.

SECTION 2. Section 302A-121, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) The board shall consist of [~~nine~~] eleven members as follows:

(1) One member [~~from~~] who shall be a resident of the county of Hawaii;

(2) One member [~~from~~] who shall be a resident of the county of Maui;

(3) One member [~~from~~] who shall be a resident of the county of Kauai;

(4) [~~Three~~] Four members [~~from~~] who shall be residents of the city and county of Honolulu; provided that:

(A) One member shall be a resident of either the Farrington-Kaiser-Kalani or Kaimuki-McKinley-Roosevelt complex areas;

(B) One member shall be a resident of either the Aiea-Moanalua-Radford or Leilehua-Mililani-Waialua complex areas;

(C) One member shall be a resident of either the Campbell-Kapolei, Pearl City-Waipahu, or Nanakuli-Waianae complex areas; and

(D) One member shall be a resident of either the Castle-Kahuku or Kailua-Kalaheo complex areas;

(5) [~~Three~~] Four at-large members[~~; provided that the governor shall select an at-large member as the chairperson~~]. At-large members may be residents of any area; provided that at least two members shall have business management experience; and

(6) At least two members shall have public education experience; provided that at least one member shall have experience as a principal.

The members shall be appointed by the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate. The governor may remove or suspend [~~for cause~~] any member of the board[.] at any time."

2. By amending subsection (d) to read:

"(d) Pursuant to section 302A-447, the state student council shall select [a] two nonvoting public high school student [~~representative~~] representatives to the board."

SECTION 3. Section 302A-123, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (b), (c), and (d) to read as follows:

"(b) The term of each member shall be [~~three~~] four years, [except as provided for in the initial appointment in subsection (a). Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, members shall serve no more than three consecutive three-year terms; provided that the members who are initially appointed to terms of two years or less pursuant to subsection (a) may be reappointed to three ensuing consecutive three-year terms.] and shall run concurrently with the term of the appointing governor unless otherwise provided for in subsection (d). If a member is nominated to a second or subsequent consecutive term, the senate shall consider the question of whether to reconfirm the member at least one hundred twenty days prior to the expiration of the member's immediately preceding term; provided that if the senate has not taken final action to reconfirm the member by the one hundred twenty-day deadline, the member shall continue to serve until the senate takes final action on the reconfirmation.

(c) The term of [~~the~~] each student representative shall be one year. [~~The~~] Each student representative may be selected for one additional consecutive term; provided that [~~the~~] each student representative shall be a student at the time of selection and shall be a student for the majority of that term.

(d) [~~Every member may serve beyond the expiration date of the member's term of appointment~~] Every member shall continue to serve until the member is reappointed or until the member's successor has been appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate in accordance with sections 302A-121, 302A-126, and 302A-127."

SECTION 4. Section 302A-124, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The [~~governor~~] board shall select a chairperson and a vice chairperson of the board[~~; provided that the chairperson shall be selected from among the at-large members. The board shall select a vice chairperson from among its members, and the~~] from among its voting members. The vice chairperson shall serve as interim chairperson in the event the chairperson's seat becomes vacant."

SECTION 5. Section 302A-125, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) Where the chairperson position becomes vacant, the [~~governor may nominate a sitting member of the board to the chairperson position in accordance with subsection (a)~~] board shall select another chairperson from among its voting members and the governor shall fill any resulting vacancy in accordance with subsection (a)."

SECTION 6. Section 302A-447, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) The council shall determine whether it shall directly select the student [~~representative~~] representatives to the board or whether it shall run an election to select [~~that individual.~~] those individuals."

SECTION 7. The term of office of each existing member of the board of education in office as of the day before the effective date of this Act shall terminate on June 30, 2015. The term of successor members appointed pursuant to this Act shall commence on July 1, 2015.

The appointment by the governor of members to the board of education pursuant to this Act shall take place as expeditiously as possible so that, to the extent possible, there are no vacancies in the membership of the board as of July 1, 2015.

SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect on June 30, 2015.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	126
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015
STATE OF HAWAII