HB901 • 2026

RELATING TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.

Education

Active

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

Sponsor: WOODSON (Introduced by request of another party)
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 that the Board of Education must make final decisions within 60 days, only that they should review and issue a decision within this timeframe.

Clarifying Appeals Process for Public Charter Schools

This bill clarifies the grounds for appeals by public charter schools to the Board of Education regarding their operations, governance, or funding, with certain exceptions.

What This Bill Does

Clarifies the reasons why a charter school can appeal if its contract is not renewed or revoked.
Allows public charter schools to directly appeal to the Board of Education on matters related to their operation, governance, or funding, except for negative performance reviews and non-renewal decisions unless there are procedural errors, statutory violations, or lack of compliance with contracts.

Who It Names or Affects

Public charter schools in Hawaii
The Board of Education

Terms To Know

Authorizer: An organization or agency that grants a charter to a public charter school and monitors its performance.
Board of Education: The governing body responsible for overseeing the state's education system, including charter schools.

Limits and Unknowns

This bill does not specify what happens if a charter school fails to appeal within the required time frame.
It is unclear how many public charter schools will be affected by these changes.
The effective date of July 1, 3000, suggests this may be a placeholder and needs further clarification.

Amendments

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

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment allows public charter schools in Hawaii to appeal directly to the Board of Education (BOE) regarding matters that affect their operations, governance, or funding, except for negative performance reviews or non-renewal decisions unless there are procedural errors or statutory violations.

Public charter schools can now appeal directly to the BOE on issues affecting their operation, governance, or funding.
The amendment specifies exceptions where appeals are not allowed, such as for negative performance reviews and most non-renewal decisions.

The effective date of July 1, 3000, seems incorrect and likely needs to be updated in the final version.
Details on how the BOE will handle these appeals are not provided beyond requiring rule adoption under chapter 91.

HD2

Hawaii published version HD2

Plain English: This amendment clarifies the grounds for appealing non-renewal or revocation of a charter contract and allows public charter schools to appeal directly to the Board of Education (BOE) on matters affecting their operations, governance, or funding.

Clarifies the specific reasons why a charter school can appeal if its contract is not renewed or revoked by an authorizer.
Allows charter schools to file appeals with the BOE regarding operational issues, governance problems, and funding concerns directly without going through other administrative steps first.

The amendment text does not specify what happens if a charter school fails to exhaust all available administrative remedies before appealing to the BOE.
It is unclear how the new rules adopted by the BOE will be implemented and enforced.

Bill History

2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-03-06 S
Referred to EDU, JDC.
2025-03-06 S
Passed First Reading.
2025-03-06 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 301).
2025-03-04 H
Passed Third Reading as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Iwamoto 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 JHA (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1073) as amended in HD 2, recommending passage on Third Reading.
2025-02-21 H
The committee on JHA recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Tarnas, Poepoe, Hashem, Kahaloa, Takayama, Garcia, Shimizu; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Belatti; 1 Noes: Representative(s) Perruso; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Cochran, Todd.
2025-02-19 H
Bill scheduled to be heard by JHA on Friday, 02-21-25 2:00PM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2025-02-13 H
Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on JHA with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kitagawa, Ward excused (3).
2025-02-13 H
Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 561) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to JHA.
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.
2025-01-23 H
Referred to EDN, JHA, referral sheet 3
2025-01-23 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-21 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOLS.
Charter Schools; BOE; Appeals
Clarifies the grounds for an appeal of non-renewal or revocation of a charter contract. Authorizes public charters schools to appeal directly to the Board of Education on matters regarding the schools' operations, governance, or funding, with certain exceptions. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB901

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

901

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to public charter schools
.

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

����
SECTION
1
.
�
The legislature
finds that public charter schools and their authorizers play a vital role in Hawaii's
public education system.

����
The purpose of this Act is to
authorize public charter schools to appeal directly to the board of education
on matters that materially affect the school's operation, governance, or
funding.

����
SECTION
2
.
�
Section
302D-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

����
"
�302D-
15
�
Appeals; charter applications, renewals, or
revocations.
�
(a)
�
The board shall have the power to decide
appeals of decisions by an authorizer to deny the approval of a charter
application, deny renewal of a charter contract, or revoke a charter school's
charter contract.
�
An appeal shall be
filed with the board within twenty-one calendar days of the receipt of the
notification of denial or revocation.
�

Only a party whose charter application has been denied, whose charter
contract renewal has been denied, or whose charter contract has been revoked
may initiate an appeal under this section for cause.
�
The board shall review an appeal and issue a
final decision within sixty calendar days of the filing of the appeal.

����
(b)
�
Any public charter school shall be entitled
to initiate an administrative appeal directly to the board on matters regarding
adverse action taken by a charter school authorizer or any decision within the
jurisdiction of the board that affects the school's operation, governance, or
funding; provided that a public charter school shall not be entitled to appeal
to the board on matters regarding negative performance reviews, or non-renewal
decisions except in cases where the authorizer alleges procedural errors,
statutory violations, or lack of compliance with contractual obligations
related to the non-renewal or revocation decision.

����
[
(b)
]
(c)
�
The board shall serve as the final arbitrator
of appeals authorized by [
subsection
]
subsections
(a)
and (b)
.

����
[
(c)
]
(d)
�
[
A
]
Except as otherwise provided in
subsection (b), a
party shall not be entitled to a hearing before the board
under this section until it has exhausted all available administrative
remedies.

����
[
(d)
]
(e)
�
The board shall adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 91 to implement this section.
"

����
SECTION 3.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.

����
SECTION 4.
�
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Charter
Schools; BOE; Appeals

Description:

Authorizes
public charters schools to appeal directly to the Board of Education on matters
regarding the schools' operations, governance, or funding, with certain exceptions.

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