General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1007
January Session, 2017 LCO No. 5084
*05084_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 1007
January Session, 2017
LCO No. 5084
*05084_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE COLLECTION AND REPORTING OF DATA RELATING TO SPECIAL EDUCATION EXPENDITURES AND THE INTENTIONAL UNDERBUDGETING OF SPECIAL EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) On or before July 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall submit a report on its expenditures for special education for the prior fiscal year to the Department of Education. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) the total expenditures for special education and related services of the board of education, (2) the expenditures for special education and related services as a percentage of total school district expenditures, and (3) the individual expenditures for each child receiving special education and related services who is under the jurisdiction of the board of education. No local or regional board of education shall be responsible for submitting such report if the total number of students receiving special education and related services is of such a small number that a report would compromise the confidentiality of such students. Such report shall not be a public record, as defined in section 1-200 of the general statutes, except that nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the disclosure of information that is included in the strategic school profile under subsection (c) of section 10-220 of the general statutes.
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) On or before October 1, 2018, and annually thereafter, the Department of Education shall submit a report on disaggregated data relating to the expenditures for special education and related services by local and regional boards of education for the prior fiscal year, collected pursuant to section 1 of this act, 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. Such report shall include, but need not be limited to, a breakdown of the total number of students requiring special education in each school district whose per pupil educational cost for such school district is (1) two times the net current expenditures per resident student of such school district, (2) two and one-half times the net current expenditures per resident student of such school district, (3) three times the net current expenditures per resident student of such school district, (4) three and one-half times the net current expenditures per resident student of such school district, (5) four times the net current expenditures per resident student of such school district, and (6) four and one-half times the net current expenditures per resident student of such school district. For the purposes of this section, "net current expenditures per resident student" has the same meaning as provided in subsection (b) of section 10-76g of the general statutes.
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2017) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, and each fiscal year thereafter, if the Commissioner of Education determines that a local or regional board of education intentionally or knowingly (1) has budgeted an amount for special education expenditures in a fiscal year that is less than the estimate of such expenditures for such fiscal year, and (2) is relying on funds from the budget of the town to pay for the difference between the actual special education expenditures and the budgeted amount for such expenditures for the fiscal year, the commissioner may withhold from such board's town or towns in the following fiscal year from the sum payable under section 10-262i of the general statutes an amount equal to such difference paid by the town to such board.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2017 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2017 New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2017 New section
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2017
New section
Sec. 2
July 1, 2017
New section
Sec. 3
July 1, 2017
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To require the Department of Education to annually collect and report on data relating to local special education expenditures and to permit the Commissioner of Education to withhold education cost-sharing grant funds to any board of education that intentionally underbudgets its estimated special education expenditures.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]