At the Board of Education’s June 16th General Board Meeting, Board members approved a policy that establishes a Seal of Biliteracy for the state’s public school students. The rationale for the policy states:

“The Board of Education recognizes that there is personal, cultural, social, academic, and vocational/occupational value in encouraging students to maintain, or develop, proficiency in more than one language.”

With this policy, Hawai’i becomes the 10th state to formally recognize the value of proficiency in more than one language for a high school student’s college, career, and community readiness. Unique to Hawaii’s policy is language that enables a student to earn the Seal using either or both of the state’s official languages (i.e., English and Hawaiian).

The Roadmap acknowledges the vision and leadership of the BOE in establishing this policy, and extends a heartfelt “Mahalo!” to the Board, the Office of the Superintendent (DOE), and the many organizations and individuals who supported the effort. We look forward to sharing information on implementation of the policy, and, most especially, to celebrating the first recipients of the Seal, perhaps as early as Spring 2016!

[The minutes of the June 16th meeting are available on-line
(https://lilinote.k12.hi.us/STATE/BOE/Minutes.nsf/ebb43af14ca5cdb30a2565cb006622a8/37ab59463a30dded0a257e7c00710b40?OpenDocument), with discussion of the Seal listed under Agenda Item VI.I Board Action on Student Achievement Committee recommendations concerning new Board Policy, unnumbered, Seal of Biliteracy.]

Read the July 10th Civil Beat article on the Seal of Biliteracy here.