General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6358
January Session, 2013 *_____HB06358ED____040113____*
General Assembly
Substitute Bill No. 6358
January Session, 2013
*_____HB06358ED____040113____*
AN ACT UNLEASHING INNOVATION IN CONNECTICUT SCHOOLS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (f) of section 10-221a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):
(f) Determination of eligible credits shall be at the discretion of the local or regional board of education, provided the primary focus of the curriculum of eligible credits corresponds directly to the subject matter of the specified course requirements. The local or regional board of education may permit a student to graduate during a period of expulsion pursuant to section 10-233d, if the board determines the student has satisfactorily completed the necessary credits pursuant to this section. The requirements of this section shall apply to any student requiring special education pursuant to section 10-76a, except when the planning and placement team for such student determines the requirement not to be appropriate. For purposes of this section, a credit shall consist of not less than the equivalent of a forty-minute class period for each school day of a school year except for a credit or part of a credit toward high school graduation earned (1) at an institution accredited by the Board of Regents for Higher Education or State Board of Education or regionally accredited, [; or] (2) through on-line coursework that is in accordance with a policy adopted pursuant to subsection (g) of this section, or (3) through a demonstration of mastery based on competency and performance standards, adopted by the State Board of Education.
Sec. 2. Subsection (e) of section 10-266aa of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):
(e) Once the program is in operation in the region served by a regional educational service center pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, the Department of Education shall provide an annual grant to such regional educational service center to assist school districts in its area in administering the program and to provide staff to assist students participating in the program to make the transition to a new school and to act as a liaison between the parents of such students and the new school district. Each regional educational service center shall determine which school districts in its area are located close enough to a priority school district to make participation in the program feasible in terms of student transportation pursuant to subsection (f) of this section, provided any student participating in the program prior to July 1, 1999, shall be allowed to continue to attend the same school such student attended prior to said date in the receiving district until the student completes the highest grade in such school. [Each regional educational service center shall convene, annually, a meeting of representatives of such school districts in order for such school districts to report, by March thirty-first, the number of spaces available for the following school year for out-of-district students under the program. Annually, each regional educational service center shall provide a count of such spaces to the Department of Education by April fifteenth.] If there are more students who seek to attend school in a receiving district than there are spaces available, the regional educational service center shall assist the school district in determining attendance by the use of a lottery or lotteries designed to preserve or increase racial, ethnic and economic diversity, except that the regional educational service center shall give preference to siblings and to students who would otherwise attend a school that has lost its accreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges or has been identified as in need of improvement pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act, P.L. 107-110. The admission policies shall be consistent with section 10-15c and this section. No receiving district shall recruit students under the program for athletic or extracurricular purposes. Each receiving district shall allow out-of-district students it accepts to attend school in the district until they graduate from high school.
Sec. 3. (Effective from passage) The Department of Education shall conduct a study of issues relating to local partnerships for advancement of the teaching profession. Not later than June 30, 2015, the department shall submit such study and any recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2013 10-221a(f)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2013 10-266aa(e)
Sec. 3 from passage New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2013
10-221a(f)
Sec. 2
July 1, 2013
10-266aa(e)
Sec. 3
from passage
New section
ED Joint Favorable Subst.
ED
Joint Favorable Subst.