The state’s bipartisan Keiki Caucus on Thursday announced a package of bills it plans to support this session, including measures that would help fund after-school programs and amend Hawaii’s sex education law.
In order to improve sex education, the caucus is backing a bill that, among other things, would require the Department of Education to provide information on the curriculum to the public and allow for parents to keep their children out of sex education without academic consequences.
Additionally, a resolution supported by the caucus would request the DOE and the Board of Education to report back to the Legislature on the status of sexuality health programs in the public schools and on the feasibility of developing a uniform, mandatory sex education program.
Kathleen Stofocik, education manager at Planned Parenthood Hawaii, said during a news conference with lawmakers at the state Capitol that current laws are failing Hawaii’s students.
"Hawaii teens have the lowest rate of condom use in the country, high rates of sexually transmitted infections, and they have the 12th-highest rate of teen pregnancy, which costs Hawaii taxpayers $37 million per year," she said.
Sen. Suzanne Chun Oakland (D, Downtown-Nuuanu-Liliha), chairwoman of the Senate Human Services Committee, said youth have been pushing for more comprehensive sex education at the annual Children and Youth Day Summit.
"So I hope we will be able to help this time," she said.
Lt. Gov. Shan Tsutsui thanked caucus members for supporting the REACH initiative he unveiled last year to help provide middle-schoolers with worthwhile extracurricular activities. A soon-to-be-introduced bill aims to establish REACH (Resources for Enrichment, Athletics, Culture and Health) under the state Office of Youth Services and fund a full-time position.
"In the recent years, because of the tightening of the curriculum, many of the programs that have been starting to move out of the public school system have focused around arts and culture," Tsutsui said.
Other measures highlighted by the caucus include authorizing the Department of Education and Hawaii Community Development Authority to develop programs that create incentives for school and community gardens; establish conditions and procedures regarding the use of restraint and seclusion in schools; prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco; and require the Office of Youth Services to coordinate a five-year pilot program that establishes a network of places for youth to get help with such problems as substance abuse, trauma, violence and human trafficking.
Chun-Oakland said a bill she is particularly interested in aims to establish a program to plant native or food-bearing trees on state land.
The Keiki Caucus is a bipartisan group of 30 House and Senate members that collaborates with more than 100 children and youth advocates, nonprofit organizations, researchers, businesses and other experts to draft legislation regarding education, health, child safety, substance abuse, child welfare, youth development, employment opportunities and other critical issues. Bills must be approved by 75 percent of caucus members to be included in the package.
