Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 30, Number 6, 1 June 2013 — Resolution on immersion education issues [ARTICLE]

Resolution on immersion education issues

The Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution urging Department of Education principals of Hawaiian language immersion schools to accept all interested students. An excerpt from the resolution is helow: BE ĪT RESOLVED by the Board ofTrustees of the Office of Hawaiian Ajfairs that ihe Offce of Hawaiian Ajfairs declares that every child in Hawai'i has ajundamental right to a Hawaiian language immersion education insofar as 'Ōlelo Hawai'i is an offcial language ofthe state; and BE ITFURTHER RESOLVED that the Office of Hawaiian Ajfairs declares that a lottery system that results in any student applicant not being accepted into the Hawaiian language immersion program ofa school is inappropriate, ojfensive andaviolation of that child'sfundamental right to a Hawaiian language immersion education; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the principals ofschools thathave a Hawaiian language immersion program are urged to accept every child whose parents apply for him or her to attend the school's Hawaiian language immersion program and to make necessary adjustments to ihe allocation of resources to support eaeh immersion student; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the principals ofschools thathave a Hawaiian language immersion program are urged to consult with ihe loeal Hawaiian language community, including ihe Pūnana Leo preschools thatfeed into ihe school as well as ihe school's Hawaiian language immersion teachers andfamilies, regarding ihe administration ofthe school's immersion program; and BE ITFURTHER RESOLVED that the Hawai'i State Legislature and the Board of Education are urged to respectively amend Hawai'i's laws and the DOE's administrative rules to require that eaeh school that has a Hawaiian language immersion program accepts any child whose parents applyfor him or herto enroll in the school's Hawaiian language immersion program ; and BE ITFURTHER RESOLVED that the Department ofEducation is urged to eonsider transitioning Pā'ia Elementary to an exclusively Hawaiian language immersion school site in order to support the growing demandfor the Hawaiian language immersion program on Maui; and BEITFURTHER RESOLVED thatcertified copies ofthis resolution be transmitted to the Senate President and ihe House Speaker ofthe Hawai 'i State Legislature, the Chair of ihe Board ofEducation, the Superintendent of the DOE, the DOE Complex Superintendentfor Central Maui, the principal of Pā'ia Elementary, the Executive Director of ihe 'Aha Pūnana Leo and the Chair of the 'Aha Kauleo.