General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5446
February Session, 2018 LCO No. 2220
*02220_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
General Assembly
Raised Bill No. 5446
February Session, 2018
LCO No. 2220
*02220_______ED_*
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING MINOR REVISIONS TO THE EDUCATION STATUTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2018) On and after July 1, 2018, any school nurse who is initially qualified as a school nurse pursuant to sections 10-212-1 to 10-212-7, inclusive, of the regulations of Connecticut state agencies, shall complete twelve hours of professional development during the first year such school nurse is employed by a local or regional board of education. Such professional development shall use curriculum approved by the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Association of School Nurses and the Connecticut Nurses' Association.
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-19o of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) The Commissioner of Education shall establish a program to provide grants to youth service bureaus in accordance with this section. Only youth service bureaus which (1) were eligible to receive grants pursuant to this section for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, (2) applied for a grant by June 30, 2012, with prior approval of the town's contribution pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, (3) applied for a grant during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2015, or (4) applied for a grant during the fiscal year ending June 30, [2017] 2018, with prior approval of the town's contribution pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, shall be eligible for a grant pursuant to this section. Each such youth service bureau shall receive, within available appropriations, a grant of fourteen thousand dollars. The Department of Education may expend an amount not to exceed two per cent of the amount appropriated for purposes of this section for administrative expenses. If there are any remaining funds, each such youth service bureau that was awarded a grant in excess of fifteen thousand dollars in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1995, shall receive a percentage of such funds. The percentage shall be determined as follows: For each such grant in excess of fifteen thousand dollars, the difference between the amount of the grant awarded to the youth service bureau for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1995, and fifteen thousand dollars shall be divided by the difference between the total amount of the grants awarded to all youth service bureaus that were awarded grants in excess of fifteen thousand dollars for said fiscal year and the product of fifteen thousand dollars and the number of such grants for said fiscal year.
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 10-16b of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) In the public schools the program of instruction offered shall include at least the following subject matter, as taught by legally qualified teachers, the arts; career education; consumer education; health and safety, including, but not limited to, human growth and development, nutrition, first aid, including cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in accordance with the provisions of section 10-16qq, disease prevention and cancer awareness, including, but not limited to, age and developmentally appropriate instruction in performing self-examinations for the purposes of screening for breast cancer and testicular cancer, community and consumer health, physical, mental and emotional health, including youth suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, safety, which shall include the safe use of social media, as defined in section 9-601, and may include the dangers of gang membership, and accident prevention; language arts, including reading, writing, grammar, speaking and spelling; mathematics; physical education; science; social studies, including, but not limited to, citizenship, economics, geography, government and history; computer programming instruction; and in addition, on at least the secondary level, one or more world languages, [and] vocational education and instruction relating to the Safe Haven Act, as described in section 17a-58. For purposes of this subsection, world languages shall include American Sign Language, provided such subject matter is taught by a qualified instructor under the supervision of a teacher who holds a certificate issued by the State Board of Education. For purposes of this subsection, the "arts" means any form of visual or performing arts, which may include, but not be limited to, dance, music, art and theatre.
Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of section 10-206 of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(b) Each local or regional board of education shall require each child to have a health assessment prior to public school enrollment. The assessment shall include: (1) A physical examination which shall include hematocrit or hemoglobin tests, height, weight, blood pressure, and, beginning with the 2003-2004 school year, a chronic disease assessment which shall include, but not be limited to, asthma as defined by the Commissioner of Public Health pursuant to subsection (c) of section 19a-62a. The assessment form shall include (A) a check box for the provider conducting the assessment, as provided in subsection (a) of this section, to indicate an asthma diagnosis, (B) screening questions relating to appropriate public health concerns to be answered by the parent or guardian, and (C) screening questions to be answered by such provider; (2) an updating of immunizations as required under section 10-204a, provided a registered nurse may only update said immunizations pursuant to a written order by a physician or physician assistant, licensed pursuant to chapter 370, or an advanced practice registered nurse, licensed pursuant to chapter 378; (3) vision, hearing [,] and speech screenings and gross dental screenings performed by a dentist licensed to practice dental medicine in this or another state; and (4) such other information, including health and developmental history, as the physician feels is necessary and appropriate. The assessment shall also include tests for tuberculosis, sickle cell anemia or Cooley's anemia and tests for lead levels in the blood where the local or regional board of education determines after consultation with the school medical advisor and the local health department, or in the case of a regional board of education, each local health department, that such tests are necessary, provided a registered nurse may only perform said tests pursuant to the written order of a physician or physician assistant, licensed pursuant to chapter 370, or an advanced practice registered nurse, licensed pursuant to chapter 378.
Sec. 5. Subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of section 10-198d of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(b) (1) The chronic absenteeism prevention and intervention plan shall include, but need not be limited to, the following: (A) Information that describes (i) chronic absenteeism, including, but not limited to, the definition of a chronically absent child under section 10-198c, and the causes of chronic absenteeism, such as poverty, violence, poor health and lack of access to transportation, (ii) the effect of chronic absenteeism on a student's academic performance, and (iii) how family and school partnerships with community resources, including, but not limited to, family resource centers and youth service bureaus, can reduce chronic absenteeism and improve student attendance, and (B) a means of collecting and analyzing data relating to student attendance, truancy and chronic absenteeism for the purpose of (i) disaggregating such data by school district, school, grade and subgroups, such as race, ethnicity, gender, eligibility for free or reduced priced lunches, [and] students whose primary language is not English and students with disabilities, and (ii) assisting local and regional boards of education in (I) tracking chronic absenteeism over multiple years and for the current school year, (II) developing indicators to identify students who are at risk of being chronically absent children, (III) monitoring students' attendance over time, and (IV) making adjustments to interventions as they are being implemented.
Sec. 6. Section 10-198e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
The Department of Education shall identify effective truancy intervention models for implementation by local and regional boards of education pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-198a, including intervention and prevention models that address the needs of students with disabilities. Not later than August 15, 2017, a listing of such approved models shall be available for implementation by local and regional boards of education pursuant to said subsection (b).
Sec. 7. Subsection (a) of section 2-53m of the 2018 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2018):
(a) The joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children, in consultation with the Office of Fiscal Analysis, the Office of Legislative Research and the Commission on Women, Children and Seniors shall maintain an annual report card that evaluates the progress of state policies and programs in promoting the result that all Connecticut children grow up in a stable living environment, safe, healthy and ready to lead successful lives. Progress shall be measured by primary indicators of progress, including, but not limited to, indicators established in the final report of the former Legislative Program Review and Investigations Committee prepared pursuant to the provisions of section 1 of public act 09-166, of state-wide rates of child abuse, child poverty, low birth weight, third grade reading proficiency, and the annual social health index developed pursuant to section 46a-131a. For each indicator, the data shall also be presented according to ethnicity or race, gender, geography, disability and, where appropriate, age and other relevant characteristics. The joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to children shall prepare the report card on or before January 15, 2018, and annually thereafter. On or before January 15, 2018, and annually thereafter, said committee shall make the report card available to the public on the Internet and on the web site of the General Assembly and shall transmit the report card electronically to (1) members of the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies and human services, (2) the Commissioners of Children and Families, Education and Public Health, (3) the Child Advocate, (4) the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, and (5) the Chief Court Administrator.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2018 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2018 10-19o(a)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2018 10-16b(a)
Sec. 4 July 1, 2018 10-206(b)
Sec. 5 July 1, 2018 10-198d(b)(1)
Sec. 6 July 1, 2018 10-198e
Sec. 7 July 1, 2018 2-53m(a)
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1
July 1, 2018
New section
Sec. 2
July 1, 2018
10-19o(a)
Sec. 3
July 1, 2018
10-16b(a)
Sec. 4
July 1, 2018
10-206(b)
Sec. 5
July 1, 2018
10-198d(b)(1)
Sec. 6
July 1, 2018
10-198e
Sec. 7
July 1, 2018
2-53m(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To make minor revisions to the education statutes.
[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.]