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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6535
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 3966
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING IS SUES RELATING TO SCH OOL SECURITY.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective from passage) (a) The Department of Education 1
shall convene a working group to examine the employment and role of 2
school resource officers in public schools and to develop 3
recommendations regarding whether school resource officers should 4
continue to be employed or assigned in public schools, and if so, what 5
their duties and role should be within the schools and community in 6
which they are assigned. For purposes of this section, "school resource 7
officer" has the same meaning as provided in section 10-233m of the 8
general statutes. 9
(b) The working group shall examine: 10
(1) Each memorandum of understanding entered into between a local 11
and regional board of education and the local law enforcement agency, 12
pursuant to section 10-233m of the general statutes, that outlines the role 13
and responsibility of school resource officers assigned to schools under 14
the jurisdiction of such board; 15 Raised Bill No. 6535
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(2) The number and nature of instances of student discipline in which 16
a school resource officer was involved, and whether such instances 17
resulted in a student suspension, expulsion or school-based arrest, as 18
defined in section 10-233n of the general statutes; 19
(3) The degree of involvement in and relationship of the school 20
resource officer with the school community for which such school 21
resource officer is assigned beyond interactions involving student 22
discipline and school-based arrests; 23
(4) The amount of time a school resource officer is on school grounds 24
in his or her official capacity as a school resource officer; 25
(5) Whether the school resource officer is an employee of the local or 26
regional board of education or the local law enforcement agency; 27
(6) The cost, if any, to the local or regional board of education for 28
employing a school resource officer or assigning a school resource 29
officer pursuant to an agreement with a local law enforcement agency; 30
(7) The amount, frequency and nature of any training relating to 31
serving as a school resource officer that a school resource officer receives 32
prior to and while serving as a school resource officer; 33
(8) The grade levels to which a school resource officer is assigned; and 34
(9) Whether, on a state-wide, district and individual school level, a 35
correlation exists between a school's climate for student success and the 36
relationship established between local and regional boards of education 37
and school resource officers as outlined in the memorandum of 38
understanding described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, and the 39
factors described in subdivisions (2) to (8), inclusive, of this subsection. 40
(c) The working group shall consist of the following members: 41
(1) Two designated by the Connecticut Association of Boards of 42
Education, one of whom is a member of a board of education for a school 43
district that employs a school resource officer and one of whom is a 44 Raised Bill No. 6535
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member of a board of education for a school district that assigns a school 45
resource officer to one or more schools under its jurisdiction, but such 46
school resource officer is employed by the local law enforcement 47
agency; 48
(2) Two designated by the Connecticut Association of Public School 49
Superintendents, one of whom is a superintendent of schools for an 50
urban school district that makes use of one or more school resource 51
officers and one of whom is a superintendent of schools for a rural or 52
suburban school district that makes use of one or more school resource 53
officers; 54
(3) Two designated by the Connecticut Association of School 55
Administrators who are administrators of schools in which a school 56
resource officer is assigned; 57
(4) One designated by the Connecticut Education Association who is 58
a teacher in a school in which a school resource officer is assigned; 59
(5) One designated by the American Federation of Teachers-60
Connecticut who is a teacher in a school in which a school resource 61
officer is assigned; 62
(6) Six designated by the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association, two 63
of whom are police chiefs for local law enforcement agencies that have 64
entered into a memorandum of understanding with a local or regional 65
board of education for purpose of assigning school resource officers to 66
schools in the school district, two of whom are school resource officers 67
in urban school districts and two of whom are school resource officers 68
in rural or suburban school districts; and 69
(7) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee. 70
(d) All designations to the working group shall be made not later than 71
thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be 72
filled by the designating authority. 73
(e) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee, 74 Raised Bill No. 6535
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shall serve as the chairperson of the working group. The chairperson 75
shall schedule the first meeting of the working group, which shall be 76
held not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section. 77
(f) Not later than January 1, 2022, the working group shall submit a 78
report on its findings and any recommendations for revisions to the 79
equalization aid grant formula to the joint standing committee of the 80
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, 81
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 82
The working group shall terminate on the date that it submits such 83
report or January 1, 2022, whichever is later. 84
Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) The School Safety Infrastructure 85
Council, established pursuant to section 10-292r of the general statutes, 86
shall conduct a study to determine whether classroom doors that can be 87
locked from the inside and outside of the classroom should be included 88
in school safety infrastructure criteria, developed pursuant to 89
subsection (b) of section 10-292r of the general statutes. Not later than 90
January 1, 2022, the council shall submit a report on its findings and 91
recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General 92
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, in 93
accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 94
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) Not later than July 1, 2022, the 95
Department of Education shall develop a state-wide plan for 96
responding to large-scale school crisis events. Such plan shall include, 97
but need not be limited to, cooperation with other education and 98
behavioral health agencies, provisions specifying short and long-term 99
interventions for different student populations and identifying funding 100
mechanisms that will minimize discontinuity of services. The 101
department shall submit such plan to the joint standing committees of 102
the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 103
education and public safety, in accordance with the provisions of section 104
11-4a of the general statutes. 105
Sec. 4. Subsection (c) of section 10-222m of the general statutes is 106 Raised Bill No. 6535
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repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 107
2021): 108
(c) Each local and regional board of education shall annually submit 109
the school security and safety plan for each school under the jurisdiction 110
of such board, developed pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, to 111
the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection. For the 112
school year commencing July 1, 2021, and each school year thereafter, 113
the department shall conduct random audits, including unannounced 114
site visits to schools, to ensure that the school security and safety plans 115
are being developed and submitted in accordance with the provisions 116
of this section and being implemented in accordance with the provisions 117
of such plan. 118
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 New section
Sec. 4 July 1, 2021 10-222m(c)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) convene a working group to examine the employment and role of
school resource officers in public schools, (2) conduct a study to
determine whether classroom doors that can be locked from the inside
and outside of the classroom should be included in school safety
infrastructure criteria, (3) require the Department of Education to
develop a state-wide plan for responding to large-scale school crisis
events, and (4) require the Department of Emergency Services and
Public Protection to conduct random audits to ensure that the school
security and safety plans are being developed and implemented in
schools.
[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.]