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

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

(1)  Assist in assessing the agricultural needs of theState and devise methods of meeting those needs with the agriculture educationprogram;

(2)  Assist school districts in establishing agricultureeducation programs;

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

(4)  Evaluate existing programs and designcomplementary programs;

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

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

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

(8)  Review applications for agriculture teachercertification;

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

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

(11)  Promote improvement of agriculture educationprograms; and

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

(c)  The agriculture education program shallcoordinate with culinary arts programs to teach students healthy eating habitsand encourage culinary arts, farming, diversified agriculture, and relatedfields such as market development and science and technology, as careeroptions.  The department of agriculture shall assist the department with the implementationof this program.

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

(e)  For purposes of this section,"agriculture" or "agricultural" includes the fields offarming, diversified agriculture, landscaping, aquaculture, and relatedindustries such as market development and science and technology. [L 2006, c233, §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.