HB 1362 Summary

• Establishes the Hawaii early childhood educator stipend program to address educator shortages, providing stipends to University of Hawaii students enrolled in early childhood education programs who commit to two years of direct service to children ages birth-five in approved early learning settings.

• Creates the Hawaii early childhood educator special fund to receive repayments from stipend recipients who fail to complete their education program or meet work requirements, with proportionate repayment obligations and provisions for deferment or forgiveness due to hardship.

• Authorizes the Department of Education to directly accept private funding for public prekindergarten programs, contingent on compliance with early learning standards and signed agreements with the Executive Office on Early Learning, while prohibiting requests for additional legislative funding if private funding becomes insufficient.

• Extends implementation timelines from Act 46, SLH 2020, including the kindergarten entry assessment effective date to July 1, 2023, and establishes uniform assessment requirements for both public and charter school kindergarten students covering five essential school readiness domains.

• Requires parents of kindergarten-entering children to disclose prior early learning program attendance to inform geographic needs assessments for preschool expansion, with a goal of providing access to 50% of unserved three-to-four-year-olds by December 31, 2027, and 100% by December 31, 2032.