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House education committee adopts resolution urging stronger, comprehensive menstrual‑health curriculum
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Summary
The House Committee on Education passed SCR 78 SD1 after testimony from students, advocates and the Department of Education urging standardized, age‑appropriate menstrual‑health instruction and technical changes to scaffold content across grade levels.
The House Committee on Education on April 16 adopted SCR 78 SD1, a resolution urging the Department of Education to strengthen menstrual‑health education and adopt a comprehensive menstrual‑cycle curriculum.
Supporters — including the Department of Education, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, student witnesses and advocates — described gaps in current K–12 instruction and urged standards that are inclusive, age‑appropriate and culturally responsive. "I experienced a traumatic experience of having my period for more than 13 days," said Leila Mae Gonzalez, a 2024 McKinley High School graduate now at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, describing personal and peer experiences she said illustrate the need for better school‑based instruction. Nikki Angie, cofounder of Ma'i Movement Hawaiʻi, said the resolution reflects student input and would "make sure that the knowledge follows." The Department of Education stood on its written testimony and offered technical amendments to scaffold content between grade levels.
The committee’s action included the SD1 clarifications adopted in committee — language the chair said clarifies skills‑based content, age‑appropriate goals and culturally relevant instruction to be provided by the DOE. In decision making the committee approved the recommendation; the clerk recorded that Chair Woodson and Vice Chair LaChica voted aye, along with Representative Amado, Representative Esland, Representative Garrett, Representative Holtz, Representative Maropa and Representative Souza; Representatives Coppella and Keila were recorded as excused. The transcript records the committee adopting the recommendation; individual tallies are recorded in committee roll‑call minutes (the transcript lists ayes and excused members but not a full numeric tally for all measures).
The resolution is advisory and asks DOE to adopt curriculum changes and technical supports; it does not itself create a statutory requirement. Committee members did not record any separate amendments beyond the clarifying language adopted in committee. The committee moved on to other measures after adopting the recommendation.
