State lawmakers are now weighing House Bill 2421, which would create a Hawaii School for the Deaf and Blind board of trustees — including at least two deaf members with expertise in deaf education and fluency in American Sign Language — to independently govern the school. Given that the campus is unlike any other statewide, parting with standard public schools oversight seems a sensible move.

For its K-12 student body, American Sign Language is the go-to first language, with English ranking as a runner-up. HSDB students are most likely to thrive under leadership with deep understanding of the school’s bilingual and bicultural structure.

Good news on firearms front

Hawaii public schools falling behind mainland counterparts can be good news — when it’s the tally of firearms incidents, locally reported to be on the decline.

The report to the Legislature defines the “firearms” term loosely, including paintball guns and slingshots. Only one of the 18 student-carried weapons reported last school year was a handgun.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 16% of high schoolers in 2017 reported carrying a gun, knife or club — a lot worse than slingshots.