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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 6556
January Session, 2021
AN ACT ADDRESSING ISSUES CREATED BY THE COVID-19
PANDEMIC ON PUBLIC E DUCATION IN CONNECTI CUT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) As used in this section: 1
(1) "Learning loss" means any specific or general loss of knowledge 2
and skills, or to reversals in academic progress due to extended gaps or 3
discontinuities in a student's education related to the COVID-19 4
pandemic; and 5
(2) "COVID-19" means the respiratory disease designated by the 6
World Health Organization on February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, 7
and any related mutation thereof recognized by the World Health 8
Organization as a communicable respiratory disease. 9
(b) For the school years commencing July 1, 2020, to July 1, 2022, 10
inclusive, the Department of Education shall collect and evaluate 11
student performance data on the state-wide mastery examination, 12
administered pursuant to section 10-14n of the general statutes, for the 13
purpose of identifying and measuring the existence and severity of 14
learning loss and student disengagement in public schools as a result of 15
the COVID-19 pandemic. Such evaluation shall include an examination 16
of which students are most impacted by learning loss and student 17 Substitute Bill No. 6556
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disengagement, where such students are attending school, and the 18
nature and severity of the learning loss. 19
(c) Not later than October 1, 2021, the department shall develop 20
learning loss and student disengagement mitigation strategies for use 21
by local and regional boards of education. Such strategies shall include, 22
but need not be limited to, in-school interventions and opportunities for 23
small group instruction, tutoring services for individual or small groups 24
of students, expanded afterschool and summer academic instruction 25
and enrichment programs, and community-based learning pods. Any 26
such strategy shall include periodic assessments to track student 27
academic progress and to make any necessary changes to the provision 28
of such strategy based on the results of such periodic assessments. 29
(d) The department shall provide resources and technical assistance 30
to local and regional boards of education to extend the school day or 31
school year for the purpose of increasing student learning time and 32
addressing the immediate academic needs of students who have 33
experienced learning loss. Such resources shall include, but need not be 34
limited to, technical support to analyze and determine how to 35
restructure the school day or school year, matching funds for additional 36
school personnel, and partnering with the exclusive bargaining 37
representative for certified teachers chosen pursuant to section 10-153b 38
of the general statutes to negotiate the parameters of such extended 39
school day or school year. 40
(e) Not later than July 1, 2021, the department shall define "student 41
engagement" for purposes of mitigating learning loss and student 42
disengagement and improving academic growth and sch ool 43
connectedness. 44
(f) Not later than January 1, 2022, and annually thereafter until 45
January 1, 2024, the department shall submit a state-wide learning loss 46
and student disengagement report to the joint standing committee of the 47
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, 48
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 49 Substitute Bill No. 6556
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Sec. 2. (Effective from passage) For the fiscal years ending June 30, 2022, 50
and June 30, 2023, each local or regional board of education for an 51
alliance district, as defined in section 10-262u of the general statutes, 52
shall offer the summer learning program described in section 3 of this 53
act in order to mitigate student learning loss, as defined in section 1 of 54
this act, and student disengagement. 55
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) The Department of 56
Education, in consultation with the after school committee established 57
pursuant to section 10-16v of the general statutes, may, within available 58
appropriations, administer a grant program to provide grants to local 59
and regional boards of education, municipalities and not-for-profit 60
organizations that are exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of 61
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding 62
internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to 63
time, for summer learning programs that provide direct services and for 64
entities that provide support to summer learning programs. For 65
purposes of this section, "summer learning program" means a program 66
that (1) provides a minimum of two hundred forty hours of educational, 67
enrichment and recreational activities during the summer recess period 68
for public schools and includes small group instruction in literacy and 69
math for children in grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, and (2) 70
has a parental involvement component. 71
(b) (1) Applications for grants pursuant to subsection (a) of this 72
section shall be filed biennially with the Commissioner of Education at 73
such time and in such manner as the commissioner prescribes. As part 74
of the application, an applicant shall submit a plan for the expenditure 75
of grant funds. 76
(2) Eligibility for grants pursuant to this section shall be determined 77
for a two-year period and shall be based on the applicant's plan for 78
expenditure of grant funds. Prior to the payment of funds to the grant 79
recipient for the second year of the grant, the grant recipient shall report 80
to the Department of Education on performance outcomes of the 81
program and file an expenditure report pursuant to subsection (f) of this 82 Substitute Bill No. 6556
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section. The report concerning performance outcomes shall include, but 83
need not be limited to, measurements of the impact on student 84
achievement, including grade-level reading ability and the behavior of 85
student participants. 86
(c) The Department of Education and the after school committee 87
established pursuant to section 10-16v of the general statutes shall 88
develop and apply an appropriate evaluation process to measure the 89
effectiveness of the grant program established pursuant to this section. 90
(d) For purposes of carrying out the provisions of this section, the 91
Department of Education may accept funds from private sources and 92
from any state agency that is a member of the after school committee 93
established pursuant to section 10-16v of the general statutes. 94
(e) The Department of Education shall, in collaboration with regional 95
educational service centers, support grant recipients by (1) monitoring 96
and evaluating programs and activities, (2) conducting a comprehensive 97
evaluation of the effectiveness of programs and implementing risk 98
assessments, (3) providing technical assistance and training to eligible 99
applicants, and (4) ensuring program activities are aligned with state 100
academic standards. The department may retain up to seven and one-101
half per cent of the amount appropriated for the grant program for 102
purposes of this subsection. 103
(f) Grant recipients shall file expenditure reports with the 104
Commissioner of Education in accordance with subdivision (2) of 105
subsection (b) of this section and at such other times and in such manner 106
as the commissioner prescribes. Grant recipients shall refund (1) any 107
unexpended amounts at the close of the program for which the grant 108
was awarded, and (2) any amounts not expended in accordance with 109
the approved grant application. Any unexpended funds appropriated 110
for purposes of this section shall not lapse at the end of the fiscal year 111
but shall be available for expenditure under this section during the next 112
succeeding fiscal year. 113 Substitute Bill No. 6556
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(g) Not later than March 15, 2023, and biennially thereafter, the 114
Department of Education shall report, in accordance with the provisions 115
of section 11-4a of the general statutes, to the joint standing committee 116
of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to 117
education on performance outcomes of recipients of grants under this 118
section. The report shall include, but need not be limited to, 119
measurements of the impact on student achievement, including grade-120
level reading ability, the social-emotional learning and behavior of 121
student participants, and the mitigation of learning loss, as defined in 122
section 1 of this act. 123
Sec. 4. Subsection (e) of section 10-16x of the general statutes is 124
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 125
passage): 126
(e) [The Department of Education shall provide grant recipients with 127
technical assistance, evaluation, program monitoring, professional 128
development and accreditation support.] The Department of Education 129
shall, in collaboration with regional educational service centers, support 130
grant recipients by (1) monitoring and evaluating programs and 131
activities, (2) conducting a comprehensive evaluation of the 132
effectiveness of programs and implementing risk assessments, (3) 133
providing technical assistance and training to eligible applicants, and (4) 134
ensuring program activities are aligned with state academic standards. 135
The department may retain up to [four] seven and one-half per cent of 136
the amount appropriated for the grant program for purposes of this 137
subsection. 138
Sec. 5. Subsection (a) of section 10-145 of the general statutes is 139
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from 140
passage): 141
(a) No teacher, supervisor, administrator, special service staff 142
member or school superintendent, except as provided for in section 10-143
157, shall be employed in any of the schools of any local or regional 144
board of education unless such person possesses an appropriate state 145 Substitute Bill No. 6556
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certificate, nor shall any such person be entitled to any salary unless 146
such person can produce such certificate dated prior to or on the first 147
day of employment, except as provided for in section 10-157; provided 148
nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prevent the board of 149
education from prescribing qualifications additional to those prescribed 150
by the regulations of the State Board of Education and provided nothing 151
in this subsection shall be construed to prevent any local or regional 152
board of education from contracting with a licensed drivers' school 153
approved by the Commissioner of Motor Vehicles for the behind-the-154
wheel instruction of a driver instruction course, to be given by driving 155
instructors licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles. No person 156
shall be employed in any of the schools of any local or regional board of 157
education as a substitute teacher unless such person (1) holds a 158
bachelor's degree, provided the Commissioner of Education may waive 159
such requirement for good cause upon the request of a superintendent 160
of schools, except for the school years commencing July 1, 2020, and July 161
1, 2021, (A) holds at least an associate degree if such person will be in 162
the same assignment for more than ten school days, or (B) has obtained 163
a high school diploma or its equivalent if such person will be in the same 164
assignment for ten or fewer school days, and (2) is on a list maintained 165
by the local or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (f) of 166
section 10-222c. 167
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 from passage New section
Sec. 4 from passage 10-16x(e)
Sec. 5 from passage 10-145(a)
ED Joint Favorable Subst. C/R APP