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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6618
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4877
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING CE RTAIN FUNDING ISSUES AFFECTING
BOARDS OF EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 10-262u of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2021): 3
(d) The local or regional board of education for a town designated as 4
an alliance district may apply to the Commissioner of Education, at such 5
time and in such manner as the commissioner prescribes, to receive any 6
increase in funds received over the amount the town received for the 7
prior fiscal year pursuant to subsection (a) of section 10-262i. 8
Applications pursuant to this subsection shall include objectives and 9
performance targets and a plan that are developed, in part, on the 10
strategic use of student academic performance data. Such plan may 11
include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A tiered system of 12
interventions for the schools under the jurisdiction of such board based 13
on the needs of such schools, (2) ways to strengthen the foundational 14
programs in reading, through the intensive reading instruction program 15 Raised Bill No. 6618
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pursuant to section 10-14u, to ensure reading mastery in kindergarten 16
to grade three, inclusive, with a focus on standards and instruction, 17
proper use of data, intervention strategies, current information for 18
teachers, parental engagement, and teacher professional development, 19
(3) additional learning time, including extended school day or school 20
year programming administered by school personnel or external 21
partners, (4) a talent strategy that includes, but is not limited to, teacher 22
and school leader recruitment and assignment, career ladder policies 23
that draw upon guidelines for a model teacher evaluation program 24
adopted by the State Board of Education, pursuant to section 10-151b, 25
and adopted by each local or regional board of education. Such talent 26
strategy may include provisions that demonstrate increased ability to 27
attract, retain, promote and bolster the performance of staff in 28
accordance with performance evaluation findings and, in the case of 29
new personnel, other indicators of effectiveness, (5) training for school 30
leaders and other staff on new teacher evaluation models, (6) provisions 31
for the cooperation and coordination with early childhood education 32
providers to ensure alignment with district expectations for student 33
entry into kindergarten, including funding for an existing local Head 34
Start program, (7) provisions for the cooperation and coordination with 35
other governmental and community programs to ensure that students 36
receive adequate support and wraparound services, including 37
community school models, (8) provisions for implementing and 38
furthering state-wide education standards adopted by the State Board 39
of Education and all activities and initiatives associated with such 40
standards, (9) strategies for attracting and recruiting minority teachers 41
and administrators, (10) provisions for the enhancement of bilingual 42
education programs, pursuant to section 10-17f, or other language 43
acquisition services to English language learners, including, but not 44
limited to, participation in the English language learner pilot program, 45
established pursuant to section 10-17n, (11) entering into the model 46
school district responsibilities agreement, described in section 10-223l, 47
(12) leadership succession plans that provide training and learning 48
opportunities for administrators and are designed to assist in the 49
seamless transition of school and district personnel in and out of 50 Raised Bill No. 6618
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leadership positions in the school district and the continuous 51
implementation of plans developed under this subsection, and (13) any 52
additional categories or goals as determined by the commissioner. Such 53
plan shall demonstrate collaboration with key stakeholders, as 54
identified by the commissioner, with the goal of achieving efficiencies 55
and the alignment of intent and practice of current programs with 56
conditional programs identified in this subsection. The commissioner 57
may (A) require changes in any plan submitted by a local or regional 58
board of education before the commissioner approves an application 59
under this subsection, [and] (B) permit a local or regional board of 60
education, as part of such plan, to use a portion of any funds received 61
under this section for the purposes of paying tuition charged to such 62
board pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (k) of section 10-264l or 63
subsection (b) of section 10-264o, or (C) permit a local or regional board 64
of education to expend up to ten per cent of the portion of any increase 65
of funds received under this section over the amount such board 66
received for the prior fiscal year, in a manner not included in the plan 67
submitted by such board or otherwise prescribed under this subsection, 68
provided such board (i) expends such funds in accordance with the 69
provisions of section 10-262i, and (ii) increases its local appropriation for 70
education for such fiscal year in an amount equal to the amount the 71
commissioner permits such board expend under this subparagraph. 72
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective from passage) For the fiscal years ending June 73
30, 2021, to June 30, 2023, inclusive, the balance of any remaining federal 74
funds received by a local or regional board of education for the purpose 75
of covering costs associated with COVID-19 expenditures, including, 76
but not limited to, funds received pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, 77
Relief, and Economic Security Act, P.L. 116-136, as amended from time 78
to time, and the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental 79
Appropriations Act, P.L. 116-260, as amended from time to time, that 80
have not been expended by such board at the end of the fiscal year shall 81
not lapse and shall be carried forward and used by such board in the 82
next fiscal year. As used in this section, "COVID-19" means the 83
respiratory disease designated by the World Health Organization on 84 Raised Bill No. 6618
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February 11, 2020, as coronavirus 2019, and any related mutation thereof 85
recognized by the World Health Organization as a communicable 86
respiratory disease. 87
Sec. 3. Subdivision (2) of subsection (d) of section 10-51 of the general 88
statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof 89
(Effective July 1, 2021): 90
(2) On and after June 7, 2006, a regional board of education, by a 91
majority vote of its members, may create a reserve fund for capital and 92
nonrecurring expenditures. Such fund shall thereafter be termed 93
"reserve fund for capital and nonrecurring expenditures". The aggregate 94
amount of annual and supplemental appropriations by a district to such 95
fund shall not exceed [one] two per cent of the annual district budget 96
for such fiscal year. Annual appropriations to such fund shall be 97
included in the share of net expenses to be paid by each member town. 98
Supplemental appropriations to such fund may be made from estimated 99
fiscal year end surplus in operating funds. Interest and investment 100
earnings received with respect to amounts held in the fund shall be 101
credited to such fund. The board shall annually submit a complete and 102
detailed report of the condition of such fund to the member towns. 103
Upon the recommendation and approval by the regional board of 104
education, any part or the whole of such fund may be used for capital 105
and nonrecurring expenditures, but such use shall be restricted to the 106
funding of all or part of the planning, construction, reconstruction or 107
acquisition of any specific capital improvement or the acquisition of any 108
specific item of equipment. Upon the approval of any such expenditure 109
an appropriation shall be set up, plainly designated for the project or 110
acquisition for which it has been authorized, and such unexpended 111
appropriation may be continued until such project or acquisition is 112
completed. Any unexpended portion of such appropriation remaining 113
after such completion shall revert to said fund. If any authorized 114
appropriation is set up pursuant to the provisions of this subsection and 115
through unforeseen circumstances the completion of the project or 116
acquisition for which such appropriation has been designated is 117
impossible to attain the board, by a majority vote of its members, may 118 Raised Bill No. 6618
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terminate such appropriation which then shall no longer be in effect. 119
Such fund may be discontinued, after the recommendation and 120
approval by the regional board of education, and any amounts held in 121
the fund shall be transferred to the general fund of the district. 122
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 10-262u(d)
Sec. 2 from passage New section
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 10-51(d)(2)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) provide boards of education for alliance districts flexibility in how
they utilize and expend their alliance district funds, (2) permit boards of
education to carry forward any unexpended federal funds received for
the purpose of covering costs associated with the COVID-19 pandemic
into the next fiscal year, and (3) permit a regional board of education to
deposit into a nonlapsing account any unexpended funds from the prior
fiscal year from the budgeted appropriation for education for the
regional school district, provided such deposited amount does not
exceed two per cent of the total budgeted appropriation for education
for such prior fiscal year.
[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.]