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OLR Bill Analysis
SB 1032 (File 405, as amended by Senate “A”)*
AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE
EDUCATION STATUTES.
SUMMARY
This bill makes the following revisions in the education statutes:
1. creates a new reporting requirement for boards of education
with schools or districts that decline to implement the
Community Eligibility Provision of the National School Lunch
Program (§ 1);
2. requires local and regional boards of education to develop a
policy by July 1, 2022, for equitable identification of gifted and
talented students that uses multiple identification methods that
comply with State Department of Education (SDE) guidelines (§
2);
3. requires boards of education to create or revise a policy for
student placement in advanced academic courses or programs
that is not based exclusively on academic performance (§ 3);
4. creates new a content requirement for grades 6-12 student
success plans and generally requires the plans to be created in
collaboration with students and their parents or guardians (§ 4);
5. requires board of education to adopt a new challenging
curriculum policy (§ 5);
6. requires boards of education to adopt a policy to improve the
completion rates for the Free Application for Federal Student
Aid (FAFSA) among grade 12 students or students in adult
education programs (§ 6);
7. adds to the list of goals that a board of education may include in 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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its application to the education commissioner for alliance
district funds (§ 7);
8. requires SDE to publish and make available on its website the
annual FAFSA student completion rate for the graduating class
of each high school and each school district (§ 8);
9. requires the education commissioner to establish a working
group to develop ways to improve student FAFSA completion
rates (§ 9);
10. raises, from age 17 to 18, the age when a student may withdraw
from high school from, beginning in the 2023-24 school year, but
also allows a parent or guardian of a 17-year-old student to
withdraw the student if he or she simultaneously enrolls in an
adult education program (§ 10);
11. generally raises, from age 17 to 18, the minimum age at which a
student can get permission from the education commissioner to
take the GED or another SDE-approved high school equivalency
test (§ 11);
12. allows the education commissioner to make recommendations
to the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) and the
Education Committee about policies to make higher education
more affordable (§ 12); and
13. requires boards of education to update their written weighted
grading policy to address additional courses and programs (§
13).
*Senate Amendment “A” replaces the underlying bill eliminating
provisions requiring SDE to study education statutes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2021, except the provisions on the
FAFSA working group (§ 9) and SDE recommendations about new
initiatives (§ 12) take effect upon passage.
§ 1 — SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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The bill creates a new reporting requirement for certain boards of
education that participate in the National School Lunch Program
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. One component
of this program, the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), generally
allows a school or an entire district to serve free breakfast and lunch to
all students without collecting household applications. A school may
do this if at least 40% of its enrolled students participate in another
means-tested program, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) or Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
(TANF). Eligible Connecticut schools and districts that wish to
participate must submit required documentation to SDE.
Under the bill, any board of education that has at least one school in
its district that qualifies for the maximum federal reimbursement for
all school meals served under the CEP, and chooses not to implement
the CEP, must annually report to SDE starting by December 1, 2021, on
the reasons why. The report must include, (1) specific impediments to
implementing the CEP; (2) actions required to remove these
impediments; and (3) a plan to implement the CEP the following year,
if possible.
§ 3 — ADVANCED COURSE ENRO LLMENT POLICY
Under the bill, local and regional boards of education must adopt or
revise a policy on student eligibility to enroll in advanced courses or
programs by July 1, 2022. The bill defines these courses and programs
as honors or advanced placement classes, the International
Baccalaureate or Cambridge International programs, dual enrollment,
dual credit, early college, or any other advanced or accelerated course
or program offered by a school board in grades 9-12.
This policy cannot be based solely on students’ previous academic
performance (i.e., course grades and grade point averages). Any policy
that uses prior academic performance must rely on evidence-based
indicators of how a student will perform in the advanced course or
program. Additionally, the policy must (1) offer multiple ways for
students to become eligible, including recommendations from
teachers, administrators, school counselors, or other school personnel 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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and (2) align with SDE guidance.
§ 4 — STUDENT SUCCESS PLAN S
By law, boards of education must create a student success plan for
each public school student beginning in grade 6. The plan must
include their career and academic choices in grades 6 to 12.
Beginning July 1, 2021, the bill requires student success plans to be
created in collaboration with each student and his or her parent or
guardian, if possible. Beginning July 1, 2022, the plans must include an
academic plan that complies with the respective school district’s
challenging curriculum policy (see § 5 below), to the extent that it does
not conflict with the career choices in the plan.
§ 5 — CHALLENGING CURRICUL UM POLICY
Under the bill, each board of education must adopt a challenging
curriculum policy that includes at least the following:
1. criteria for identifying grade 8 and 9 students who may enroll in
an advanced course or program and
2. the requirement that these students have an academic plan that
allows them to enroll in one or more advanced courses and earn
college credit or gain career readiness skills.
The bill requires the challenging curriculum policy to be aligned
with SDE guidance.
Additionally, the bill requires each board of education to create an
academic plan for each student identified in grade 8 or 9 as eligible to
enroll in an advanced course or program. The plan must be designed
to enroll the student in one or more advanced courses or programs and
allow the student to earn college credit or result in career readiness.
Furthermore, the academic plan must be aligned with the following:
1. the courses or programs currently offered by the board of
education,
2. the student’s student success plan (see § 4 above), 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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3. the high school graduation requirements established in state
law,
4. any other board-adopted policies or standards relating to
student enrollment eligibility for advanced courses or
programs, and
5. SDE guidance.
The bill allows a student or his or her parent or guardian to decline
to implement the academic plan’s provisions.
§ 6 — FAFSA COMPLETION RAT ES
The bill requires boards of education to adopt a policy by July 1,
2022, to improve the completion rates for FAFSA among grade 12
students or students in adult education programs. It allows boards to
accept gifts, grants, and donations, including in-kind donations, to
implement the adopted policy provisions.
§ 7 — ALLIANCE DISTRICT PLANS
The bill adds to the list of goals that a board of education may
include in its application to the SDE commissioner for alliance district
funds the goal of implementing its policy to improve FAFSA
completion rates by grade 12 and adult education students (see § 6
above). Alliance district funds are awarded to the 30 school districts
that have the lowest achievement as rated by the state’s accountability
index, plus any districts previously designated as alliance districts
(CGS § 10-262u).
§ 8 — FAFSA COMPLETION RATE
The bill requires SDE, by July 1, 2024, and annually thereafter, to
publish and make available on its website the student FAFSA
completion rate for the graduating class of each high school and school
district. It also allows SDE to refrain from publishing completion data
for certain students entering careers that are not relevant or applicable
to FAFSA completion.
§ 9 — FAFSA WORKING GROUP 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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The bill requires the education commissioner establish a working
group to develop ways to improve student FAFSA completion rates.
The group’s membership must be comprised of at least the following
11 members:
1. the Office of Higher Education executive director, Connecticut
State Colleges and Universities president, and UConn president,
or their designees;
2. one Connecticut Association of Boards of Education
representative;
3. one Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents
representative;
4. one Connecticut Education Association representative,
5. one American Federation of Teachers -Connecticut
representative;
6. one Connecticut Association of Schools representative;
7. one RESC Alliance representative;
8. one Connecticut School Counselor Association representative;
and
9. one Connecticut Students for a DREAM representative.
The bill requires the working group to report its strategies and
recommendations to the Education and Higher Education and
Employment Advancement committees by December 1, 2024.
§ 10 — AGE OF WITHDRAWAL FR OM HIGH SCHOOL
The bill raises, from age 17 to 18, the age when a student may
withdraw from high school, beginning in the 2023-24 school year. The
student must appear in person at the school in order to withdraw. The
bill also allows a parent or guardian of a 17-year-old student to
withdraw the student, but simultaneously requires his or her 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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enrollment in an adult education program.
Additionally, the bill requires the adult education withdrawal and
enrollment form to include the following:
1. an attestation from a school counselor or administrator that the
school district has provided the parent or guardian information
about the educational options available in the school system
and community and
2. an attestation from the parent or guardian that the student will
be enrolled in an adult education program upon withdrawing
from school.
§ 11 — GED AGE
The bill correspondingly raises the minimum age, from age 17 to 18,
at which a student can get permission from the education
commissioner to take the GED or another SDE-approved high school
equivalency test in order to earn a state high school diploma.
However, a 17-year old student may also take the test with the
commissioner’s permission, for good cause shown.
§ 12 — SDE RECOMMENDATIONS TO OPM AND THE EDUCA TION
COMMITTEE
The bill allows the education commissioner, with SBE approval, to
make recommendations by January 1, 2022, to the OPM secretary and
the Education Committee on the following topics:
1. educating students and families about the net cost of college, the
use of federal Pell grants to increase college affordability, and
the varying income potential of different college and certificate
programs;
2. strategies for removing barriers and simplifying access to high-
quality postsecondary education and training options, including
nondegree programs;
3. the feasibility of establishing an early high school graduation
program that grants scholarships to students who graduate high 2021SB-01032-R01-BA.DOCX
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school in three years or less to attend an undergraduate, in-
person program at a non-profit Connecticut higher education
institution; and
4. the feasibility of developing a standardized exit survey for all
grade 12 students.
Under the bill, the education commissioner must consult with
parents, teachers, and school administration before making any of the
above recommendations. The commissioner may also establish a
working group to help create the recommendations.
§ 13 — WEIGHTED GRADING POL ICY
The bill requires boards of education to update as necessary the
written weighted grading policy for honors and advanced placement
classes that they must have under existing law. It specifies that this
policy must address the manner in which students’ grade point
averages are calculated.
Under the bill, the board must update the policy to address whether
the following courses or programs are also given added weight for
GPA and class rank calculation, in addition to honors and advanced
placement classes under current law: International Baccalaureate,
Cambridge International, dual enrollment, dual credit, or early college.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Education Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea 38 Nay 0 (03/22/2021)