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SR78 • 2026

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.

Education
Active

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

Sponsor
ELEFANTE, CHANG, FUKUNAGA, GABBARD, HASHIMOTO, MCKELVEY, RHOADS, RICHARDS, Kanuha, San Buenaventura
Last action
2026-03-19
Official status
Referred to EDU/HWN.
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.

What This Bill Does

  • ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.
  • DOE; OHE; K-12; Ka Papahana Kaiapuni; Hawaiian Immersion Programs

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-03-19 S

    Referred to EDU/HWN.

  2. 2026-03-16 S

    Offered.

Official Summary Text

ENCOURAGING THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION TO EXPAND THE HAWAIIAN IMMERSION PROGRAM.
DOE; OHE; K-12; Ka Papahana Kaiapuni; Hawaiian Immersion Programs

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SR78

THE SENATE

S.R. NO.

78

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

Encouraging the Department of Education to Expand the
Hawaiian IMMERSION Program
.

����
WHEREAS, Ka
Papahana Kaiapuni immersion schools provide kindergarten through twelfth grade
Hawaiian language education to develop the Kaiapuni lens connecting future
generations with Hawaiian ways of knowing and being; and

����
WHEREAS, the
Department of Education has experienced significant growth in the demand for
Hawaiian language immersion education offered in Ka Papahana Kaiapuni schools;
and

����
WHEREAS, enrollment
for Ka Papahana Kaiapuni schools has grown by approximately one thousand four
hundred students over the past decade; and

����
WHEREAS, resources
dedicated to supporting Ka Papahana Kaiapuni education programing have
consistently declined despite the growing demand; and

����
WHEREAS, a
longstanding issue that continues to impede the success and growth of Hawaiian
immersion schools is the shortage of qualified teachers; now, therefore,

����
BE IT
RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii,
Regular Session of 2026, that the Department of Education is encouraged to work
with the Office of Hawaiian Education to expand Kaiapuni immersion in
Department of Education schools and create pathways for teachers based on
funding availability; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Department of Education is encouraged to work with the Office
of Hawaiian Education to give consideration for kindergarten through twelfth
grade level instruction in a continuum of complex districts based on data
analysis of needs; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Chairperson of the Board of Education and Superintendent of Education.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
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DOE;
OHE; K-12; Ka Papahana Kaiapuni; Hawaiian Immersion Programs