RELATING TO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS.

Budget Education

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: WOODSON, AMATO, GRANDINETTI, HOLT, IWAMOTO, LAMOSAO, LEE, M., OLDS, PERRUSO, POEPOE
Last action: 2025-12-08
Official status: Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not specify how the funds will be used beyond supporting community schools and hiring a manager.

Funding for Community Schools

This bill provides funding to the Department of Education for community schools and a program manager position.

What This Bill Does

Appropriates funds to the Department of Education for community school programs.
Creates one full-time equivalent (1.0 FTE) program manager position in the Department of Education.

Who It Names or Affects

The Department of Education
Community schools across Hawaii

Terms To Know

Community Schools: Schools that work closely with the community to provide extra learning opportunities and support for students and families.
Program Manager: A person who oversees a specific program or project within an organization, in this case, managing the community school initiatives.

Limits and Unknowns

The bill does not specify how the funds will be exactly used beyond supporting community schools and hiring a manager.
It is unclear what additional steps are needed before the funding becomes available for use by the Department of Education.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment appropriates funds to the Department of Education for community schools, including a program manager position.

Appropriates $1,285,655 for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $2,703,491 for fiscal year 2026-2027 to support community schools.
Includes funding for one full-time equivalent program manager in the Department of Education.

The effective date listed as July 1, 3000 is likely a placeholder and not intended as the actual implementation date.

HD2

Hawaii published version HD2

Plain English: This amendment appropriates funds to the Department of Education for community schools, including a full-time program manager position.

Appropriates money from state general revenues for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 to support community schools.
Includes funding for a full-time equivalent (FTE) program manager in the Department of Education.

The exact amount of funds appropriated is not specified in the amendment text provided.
The effective date listed as July 1, 3000 appears to be an error or placeholder and should likely be a future year closer to enactment.

Bill History

2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-03-12 S
The committee on EDU deferred the measure.
2025-03-07 S
The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-12-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
2025-03-06 S
Referred to EDU, WAM.
2025-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2025-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 280).
2025-03-04 H
Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Pierick, Ward excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.
2025-02-28 H
Forty-eight (48) hours notice Tuesday, 03-04-25.
2025-02-28 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1025) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading.
2025-02-20 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Holt, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Alcos, Ward.
2025-02-18 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by FIN on Thursday, 02-20-25 10:00AM in House conference room 308 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-02-12 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Sayama, Ward excused (3).
2025-02-12 H
Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 465) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to FIN.
2025-02-06 H
The committee on EDN recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 11 Ayes: Representative(s) Woodson, La Chica, Amato, Evslin, Garrett, Kapela, Kila, Olds, Sayama, Muraoka, Souza; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2025-02-03 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by EDN on Thursday, 02-06-25 2:00PM in House conference room 309 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-01-21 H
Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 2
2025-01-21 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-17 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO COMMUNITY SCHOOLS.
DOE; Community Schools; Appropriation ($)
Appropriates funds to the Department of Education for community schools and a program manager position. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB754

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

754

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to community schools
.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

����
SECTION
1.
�
The legislature finds that in Hawai
ʻ
i, community schools
are innovative, thriving hubs of learning, in which partnerships and
collaboration create a
ʻ
o
mai, a
ʻ
o aku, places
to learn, teach, or impart knowledge, and establish reciprocal relationships
between learners and place, content and context, and schools and communities.
�
Community schools are needed to help align
and leverage resources already in the community to address students' barriers
to learning.
�
Through inclusive
decision-making, a shared vision, actionable data, and trusting pilina,
community schools focus on supporting students and families through the
following key practices:

����
(1)
�
Expanded enriched learning opportunities;

����
(2)
�
Rigorous community-connected classroom
instruction;

����
(3)
�
Culture of belonging, safety, and care;

����
(4)
�
Powerful family and student engagement;

����
(5)
�
Integrated systems of support;

����
(6)
�
Collaborative leadership, shared voice, and power;
and

����
(7)
�
Grounded in Hawai
ʻ
i.

����
The
legislature further finds that community schools are a proven, time-tested
strategy that can produce short-term results like improving family engagement
and attendance and decreasing behavioral referrals.
�
It is also proven to produce long-term results
like improving academic scores, school culture and climate, student enrollment,
teacher retention, and graduation rates.
�

A study on community schools in Albuquerque, New Mexico found that for
every dollar invested in a community school coordinator returned approximately
$7.11 of net benefits.
�
Another study on
community schools in New York City found that community schools had positive
and significant effects on on-time grade progression for elementary and middle
school students, and high school graduation rates.
�
A recent report by the Learning Policy Institute
cited community schools as a promising approach to improving attendance because
they can create the conditions needed for learning.

����
Accordingly, the
purpose of this Act is to appropriate funds to the department of education to
support community schools.

����
SECTION
2.
�
There is appropriated out of the
general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1,285,655 or so much
thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2025-2026 and $2,703,491 for fiscal
year 2026-2027 for community schools, including one full-time equivalent (1.0
FTE) program manager in the department of education.

����
The sums

appropriated shall be expended by the
department of education for the purposes of this Act.

����
SECTION 3
�
This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2025.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

DOE;
Community Schools; Appropriation

Description:

Appropriates
funds to the Department of Education for community schools and a program
manager position.

The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.