The state Board of Education last week unanimously approved proposed amendments to Chapter 19 of the Hawaii Administrative Rules, which govern student misconduct and discipline.
The action comes nearly a year after amendments were first considered by the board.
After receiving tentative approval from the board in October, the state Department of Education hosted 11 community engagement sessions throughout the state to get feedback on the proposed updates.
In February, the BOE voted to send the updated proposed rules to a public hearing, which was conducted July 16.
Revisions were made to the proposed amendments throughout the community engagement process, with the last round happening after the February meeting.
Originally, for example, proposed amendments called to make bullying/harassment and cyberbullying for intermediate and high school students a Class A offense — the most serious category of prohibited conduct that also includes assault, fighting and possession or use of dangerous weapons.
Those are currently Class B offenses for all students.
However, those offenses will be considered Class A offenses for students in grades 9-12 only.
The policy is being updated in part to satisfy requirements of a resolution agreement reached in December 2017 between the state DOE and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, after OCR initiated a compliance review of state policies related to bullying and harassment based on race, gender and disability in 2011.
There was no complaint that initiated the review.
The amendments will next get a final sign-off by the state attorney general and go before Gov. David Ige for review and consideration.
The department also voted to repeal Hawaii Administrative Rules Chapter 41 and replace it with a new section titled “Chapter 89 Civil Rights Policy and Complaint Procedures for Student(s) Complaints against Adult(s).”