HB2293 clarifies and expands the statutory framework for Hawaii’s “harm to students” registry, which the Department of Education must maintain for employees found, after an institution’s investigation and due process, to have inflicted harm on a student. The bill specifies the information that must be included in the registry, sets out minimum due process and investigative requirements before a person may be listed, and requires institutions to certify that notice and appeal rights were provided before transmitting a name to the department.
The measure also directs the department to consult the registry when hiring employees and before authorizing volunteers whose roles involve interaction with or close proximity to students. If a candidate or volunteer is listed, the department must stop considering the candidate or prohibit the volunteer assignment. The registry is made accessible to all institutions in the state, but it is exempt from public disclosure under Hawaii’s open records law. The bill further allows removal from the registry if new information shows the person should not be listed, and it requires institutions to defend and indemnify the department for liability tied to inclusion or removal decisions.
Impact
HB2293 amends Section 302A-1006 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes and conforming definitions in Sections 302C-2, 302D-33.5, and 302L-11. Its main legal effect is to narrow the definition of “employee” so that contractors and volunteers are covered only when their roles involve interaction with students, while expressly exempting individuals who are enrolled as students at the time of employment. It also strengthens hiring-screening and information-sharing requirements for the Department of Education and participating institutions, while preserving confidentiality of the registry and creating qualified immunity and indemnification provisions tied to disclosures and registry certifications.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been viewed favorably and moved through the process without recorded opposition in the available votes. It passed Senate Education, Senate Judiciary, and the conference committees unanimously, suggesting broad agreement on the need to refine the registry and support student safety. The final enactment as Act 127 indicates the measure ultimately received legislative and executive approval.
Contention
The principal policy issue reflected in the bill text is how broadly the registry should apply. Supporters of the amendment sought to reduce administrative burden and complexity by limiting coverage of contractors and volunteers to those who actually interact with students, and by excluding K-12 students from the registry definition. At the same time, the bill preserves strong protections for students by requiring due process, mandating institutional investigations, and requiring schools to check the registry before hiring or authorizing volunteers. No explicit opposition appears in the provided transcripts or vote history, so any contention was limited to the scope and administration of the registry rather than the underlying goal of student protection.
Enacting the Haylee Weissenbach protecting students act to establish the office of education inspector general, authorize the education inspector general to conduct audits, investigations and reviews of educational institutions, require reporting of suspected professional and criminal misconduct by school employees and agents, require certain individuals to register on an educator misconduct registry, require criminal history record checks of school employees and agents and provide for civil penalties for violations of this act.