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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6508
January Session, 2021
AN ACT CONCERNING RE MOTE LEARNING ATTEND ANCE.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) For the school year 1
commencing July 1, 2021, and each school year thereafter, a local or 2
regional board of education may authorize the provision of instruction 3
to students in grades nine to twelve, inclusive, to be conducted on a 4
virtual platform or as part of a remote learning model, provided such 5
board specifies the requirements for what constitutes student 6
attendance during such instruction. 7
Sec. 2. Section 10-16 of the general statutes is repealed and the 8
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 9
Each school district shall provide in each school year no less than one 10
hundred and eighty days of actual school sessions for grades 11
kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, nine hundred hours of actual school 12
work for full-day kindergarten and grades one to twelve, inclusive, and 13
four hundred and fifty hours of half-day kindergarten, provided school 14
districts shall not count more than seven hours of actual school work in 15
any school day towards the total required for the school year. 16
Instruction that is conducted on a virtual platform or as part of a remote 17
learning model in any school district shall be considered an actual 18 Substitute Bill No. 6508
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school session for purposes of this section, provided the local or regional 19
board of education has authorized such instruction. If weather 20
conditions result in an early dismissal or a delayed opening of school, a 21
school district which maintains separate morning and afternoon half-22
day kindergarten sessions may provide either a morning or afternoon 23
half-day kindergarten session on such day. 24
Sec. 3. Section 10-198b of the general statutes is repealed and the 25
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 26
On or before July 1, 2012, the State Board of Education shall define 27
"excused absence" and "unexcused absence". [, and on] On or before 28
January 1, 2016, the State Board of Education shall define "disciplinary 29
absence" for use by local and regional boards of education for the 30
purposes of carrying out the provisions of section 10-198a, reporting 31
truancy, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-220, and calculating the 32
district chronic absenteeism rate and the school chronic absenteeism 33
rate pursuant to section 10-198c. On or before July 1, 2021, the State 34
Board of Education shall amend the definition of "excused absence" and 35
"unexcused absence" to exclude school sessions that are conducted on a 36
virtual platform or as part of a remote learning model pursuant to 37
section 10-16, as amended by this act. 38
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 10-16
Sec. 3 from passage 10-198b
KID Joint Favorable Subst.