§302A-431.7  Agriculture education program. 
(a)  The department shall establish and administer a comprehensive agriculture
education program aligned with the natural resources career pathway.  The
agriculture education program shall include adequate staffing of individuals
trained or experienced in the field of agriculture to coordinate the program
and to provide assistance to school complexes for the coordination of the
activities of related student organizations and associations. 



(b)  The agriculture education program shall be
administered by a director who shall:



(1)  Assist in assessing the agricultural needs of the
State and devise methods of meeting those needs with the agriculture education
program;



(2)  Assist school districts in establishing agriculture
education programs;



(3)  Review school district applications for approval
of agriculture education programs;



(4)  Evaluate existing programs and design
complementary programs;



(5)  Plan research and studies for the improvement of
curriculum materials for specialty areas of agriculture, including aquaculture
and incumbent worker training;



(6)  Ensure that the standards and criteria developed
under this section satisfy the mandates of federally-assisted career and
technical education;



(7)  Develop in-service programs for teachers and
administrators of agriculture education programs;



(8)  Review applications for agriculture teacher
certification;



(9)  Assist in teacher recruitment and placement in
agriculture education programs;



(10)  Serve as a liaison with the Future Farmers of
America, representatives of business, industry, appropriate public agencies,
and institutions of higher education, including the Hawaii Farm Bureau
Federation, to facilitate dissemination of information;



(11)  Promote improvement of agriculture education
programs; and



(12)  Assist in the development of adult, continuing
education, and college-level education programs in agriculture.



(c)  The agriculture education program shall
coordinate with culinary arts programs to teach students healthy eating habits
and encourage culinary arts, farming, diversified agriculture, and related
fields such as market development and science and technology, as career
options.  The department of agriculture shall assist the department with the implementation
of this program.



(d)  The department may adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 91 to effectuate this section.



(e)  For purposes of this section,
"agriculture" or "agricultural" includes the fields of
farming, diversified agriculture, landscaping, aquaculture, and related
industries such as market development and science and technology. [L 2006, c
233, §2; am L 2007, c 111, §3]



 



Note



 



  Consultation with department of agriculture and University of Hawaii.  L 2007, c 111, §4.



  Implementation of program (report to legislature 2008,
2009).  L 2007, c 111, §5.