HB904 • 2026

RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS.

Education

Active

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

Sponsor: WOODSON, AMATO, IWAMOTO, KAHALOA, KILA, KUSCH, LOWEN, MARTEN, MATAYOSHI, OLDS, SOUZA, TODD
Last action: 2026-04-02
Official status: Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide details on what happens if the BOE does not approve the report, nor does it specify how this change will affect the content or quality of annual reports.

Charter School Reporting Requirements

This bill changes how annual reports about charter schools are handled in Hawaii, requiring the State Public Charter School Commission to submit these reports instead of the Board of Education.

What This Bill Does

Repeals the requirement for the Board of Education (BOE) to create an annual report on public charter schools.
Requires the State Public Charter School Commission to prepare and submit an annual report about public charter schools before each Regular Session of the Legislature starts.
Necessitates that the BOE reviews and approves this report before it is sent to the Governor, Legislature, and the public.

Who It Names or Affects

The State Public Charter School Commission
The Board of Education
Governor and Legislature

Terms To Know

State Public Charter School Commission: A group responsible for overseeing public charter schools in Hawaii.
Board of Education (BOE): The governing body that manages and supervises the state's educational system, including public schools.

Limits and Unknowns

This bill does not specify what happens if the BOE does not approve the report.
It is unclear how this change will affect the content or quality of annual reports on charter schools.
The effective date for this act is set very far in the future (July 1, 3000), which suggests it may be a placeholder until an actual implementation date is determined.

Amendments

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

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: This amendment removes the requirement for the Board of Education to submit an annual report about public charter schools.

Eliminates the need for the Board of Education to provide an annual report on public charter schools to the legislature, governor, and the public.

The amendment text does not specify what happens to the information that was previously included in these reports.
It is unclear how this change will affect transparency regarding public charter school funding and performance.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: This amendment changes who creates the annual report about public charter schools in Hawaii, making it the State Public Charter School Commission instead of the Board of Education, with the Board of Education reviewing and approving the report before it is submitted to the governor, legislature, and public.

The State Public Charter School Commission will now create an annual report on public charter schools instead of the Board of Education.
Before submitting the report to the governor, legislature, and public, the Board of Education must review and approve it.

The amendment specifies a future effective date (July 1, 3000) which seems unusual and may be an error or placeholder.
Details about how the transition from the Board of Education to the Commission will occur are not provided in this text.

Bill History

2026-04-02 S
Received notice of the discharge of all House Conferees (Hse. Com. No. 457).
2026-04-01 H
House Conferee(s) discharged.
2025-12-08 D
Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.
2025-04-15 S
Received notice of appointment of House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 732).
2025-04-14 H
House Conferees Appointed: Woodson, Morikawa Co-Chairs; Souza.
2025-04-08 S
Received notice of disagreement (Hse. Com. No. 559).
2025-04-04 H
House disagrees with Senate amendment (s).
2025-04-03 H
Returned from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 555) in amended form (SD 1).
2025-04-03 S
Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none. Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
2025-04-01 S
48 Hrs. Notice 04-03-25.
2025-04-01 S
Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1).
2025-04-01 S
Reported from EDU (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1489) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and placement on the calendar for Third Reading.
2025-03-10 S
The committee(s) on EDU recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EDU were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Kidani, Kim, Hashimoto, Kanuha, DeCorte; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
2025-03-07 S
The committee(s) on EDU has scheduled a public hearing on 03-10-25 3:00PM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
2025-03-04 S
Referred to EDU.
2025-02-28 S
Passed First Reading.
2025-02-28 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 42).
2025-02-27 H
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick, Templo, Ward excused (4). Transmitted to Senate.
2025-02-27 H
Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 854), recommending passage on Third Reading.
2025-02-20 H
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. 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.
2025-02-13 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, Kitagawa, Ward excused (3).
2025-02-13 H
Reported from EDN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 562) 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.
2025-01-23 H
Referred to EDN, FIN, referral sheet 3
2025-01-23 H
Introduced and Pass First Reading.
2025-01-21 H
Pending introduction.

Official Summary Text

RELATING TO CHARTER SCHOOLS.
BOE; State Public Charter School Commission; Public Charter Schools; Annual Report; Review
Requires the State Public Charter School Commission to submit an annual report on public charter schools before the opening day of each Regular Session of the Legislature. Requires the Board of Education to review and approve the annual report before the report is issued to the Governor, Legislature, and the public. Takes effect 7/1/3000. (SD1)

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

HB904

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

904

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025

STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating
to charter schools
.

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

����
SECTION
1
.
�
Section
302D-21, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is repealed.

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["
�302D-21
�
Annual board
report.
�
No later than the
opening day of each regular session of the legislature, the board shall issue
to the governor, the legislature, and the public, an annual report on the
State's public charter schools, drawing from the annual reports submitted by
every authorizer, as well as any additional relevant data compiled by the
board, for the school year ending in the preceding calendar year.
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The annual report shall include:

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(1)
�
The board's
assessment of the successes, challenges, and areas for improvement in meeting
the purposes of this chapter, including the board's assessment of the
sufficiency of funding for public charter schools, and any suggested changes in
state law or policy necessary to strengthen the State's public charter schools;

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(2)
�
A line-item
breakdown of all federal funds received by the department and distributed to
authorizers;

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(3)
�
Any concerns
regarding equity and recommendations to improve access to and distribution of
federal funds to public charter schools;

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(4)
�
A summary of
the criteria used by the charter school facilities funding working group,
established pursuant to section 302D-29.5, in allocating facilities funding;

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(5)
�
A detailed
breakdown of the allocation of funding through general funds and bond funds;

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(6)
�
A detailed list
of the projects funded by general funds and bond funds;

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(7)
�
The status of
funding for projects previously awarded; and

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(8)
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A discussion of
all board policies adopted in the previous year, including a detailed
explanation as to whether each policy is or is not applicable to charter
schools.
"]

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SECTION 2.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.

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SECTION 3.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:

Board of
Education; Public Charter Schools; Annual Report; Repeal

Description:

Repeals
the requirement for the Board of Education to annually report to the Legislature,
Governor, and the public on public charter schools.

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