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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5466
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 3013
Referred to Committee on EDUCATION
Introduced by:
(ED)
AN ACT CONCERNING ASSORTED REVISIONS AND ADDITIONS TO
THE EDUCATION STATUTES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (Effective July 1, 2022) The Department of Education shall 1
conduct a feasibility study regarding the establishment and 2
implementation of one or more recovery high schools in the state. The 3
department shall examine how other states have implemented and 4
integrated recovery high schools into their public school system. Not 5
later than January 1, 2023, the department shall submit a report on its 6
findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the 7
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, 8
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 9
For purposes of this section, "recovery high school" means a high school 10
designed specifically for students in recovery from substance use 11
disorder or co-occurring disorders. 12
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 10-15b of the general statutes is 13
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 14
2022): 15 Raised Bill No. 5466
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(a) Either parent or legal guardian of a minor student shall, upon 16
written request to a local or regional board of education and within a 17
reasonable time, be entitled to knowledge of and access to all 18
educational, medical, or similar records maintained in such student's 19
cumulative record, including such student's class rank, except that no 20
parent or legal guardian shall be entitled to information considered 21
privileged under section 10-154a. Nothing in this section shall be 22
construed to limit a parent who is incarcerated from being entitled to 23
knowledge of and access to all educational, medical or similar records 24
maintained in the cumulative record of any minor student of such 25
incarcerated parent, except that such incarcerated parent shall not be 26
entitled to such records if (1) such information is considered privileged 27
under section 10-154a, (2) such incarcerated parent has been convicted 28
in this state or any other state of a violation of section 53a-70, 53a-70a, 29
53a-71, 53a-72a, 53a-72b or 53a-73a, or (3) such incarcerated parent is 30
prohibited from knowledge of or access to such student's cumulative 31
record pursuant to a court order. 32
Sec. 3. Section 10-1 of the 2022 supplement to the general statutes is 33
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 34
2022): 35
(a) (1) Prior to July 1, 1998, the State Board of Education shall consist 36
of nine members. On and after July 1, 1998, but prior to July 1, 2010, the 37
State Board of Education shall consist of eleven members, two of whom 38
shall be nonvoting student members. 39
(2) On and after July 1, 2010, but prior to April 1, 2011, the State Board 40
of Education shall consist of thirteen members, at least two of whom 41
shall have experience in manufacturing or a trade offered at the regional 42
vocational-technical schools or be alumni of or have served as educators 43
at a regional vocational-technical school and two of whom shall be 44
nonvoting student members. Only those members with experience in 45
manufacturing or a trade offered at the regional vocational-technical 46
schools or are alumni of or have served as educators at a regional 47
vocational-technical school shall be eligible to serve as the chairperson 48 Raised Bill No. 5466
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for the regional vocational-technical school subcommittee of the board. 49
(3) On and after April 1, 2011, but prior to July 1, 2012, the State Board 50
of Education shall consist of thirteen members, (A) at least two of whom 51
shall have experience in manufacturing or a trade offered at the regional 52
vocational-technical schools or be alumni of or have served as educators 53
at a regional vocational-technical school, (B) at least one of whom shall 54
have experience in agriculture or be an alumni of or have served as an 55
educator at a regional agricultural science and technology education 56
center, and (C) two of whom shall be nonvoting student members. Only 57
those members described in subparagraph (A) of this subdivision shall 58
be eligible to serve as the chairperson for the regional vocational-59
technical school subcommittee of the board. 60
(4) On and after July 1, 2012, but prior to February 1, 2023, the State 61
Board of Education shall consist of fourteen members, (A) at least two 62
of whom shall have experience in manufacturing or a trade offered at 63
the technical education and career schools or be alumni of or have 64
served as educators at a technical education and career school, (B) at 65
least one of whom shall have experience in agriculture or be an alumni 66
of or have served as an educator at a regional agricultural science and 67
technology education center, and (C) two of whom shall be nonvoting 68
student members. 69
(5) On and after February 1, 2023, the State Board of Education shall 70
consist of twenty members as follows: (A) Fourteen appointed by the 71
Governor in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this 72
section and of which (i) at least two of whom shall have experience in 73
manufacturing or a trade offered at the technical education and career 74
schools or be alumni of or have served as educators at a technical 75
education and career school, (ii) at least one of whom shall have 76
experience in agriculture or be an alumni of or have served as an 77
educator at a regional agricultural science and technology education 78
center, and (iii) two of whom shall be nonvoting student members, (B) 79
one appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, (C) one 80
appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, (D) one 81 Raised Bill No. 5466
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appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives, (E) 82
one appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, (F) one appointed 83
by the minority leader of the House of Representatives, and (G) one 84
appointed by the minority leader of the Senate. 85
(b) The Governor shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the 86
General Assembly, the members of said board, provided each student 87
member (1) is on the list submitted to the Governor pursuant to section 88
10-2a, (2) is enrolled in a public high school in the state, (3) has 89
completed eleventh grade prior to the commencement of his term, (4) 90
has at least a B plus average, and (5) provides at least three references 91
from teachers in the school the student member is attending. The 92
nonstudent members shall serve for terms of four years commencing on 93
March first in the year of their appointment. The student members shall 94
serve for terms of one year commencing on July first in the year of their 95
appointment. The president of the Connecticut State Colleges and 96
Universities, the chairperson of the Technical Education and Career 97
System board and the Chief Workforce Officer shall serve as ex-officio 98
members without a vote. Any vacancy in said State Board of Education 99
shall be filled in the manner provided in section 4-19. 100
Sec. 4. (Effective from passage) (a) On or before September 1, 2022, the 101
governing authority for intramural and interscholastic athletics in the 102
state shall convene a working group to study the efficacy of throat 103
guards in preventing catastrophic neck injuries to interscholastic, 104
intramural and youth ice hockey athletes. The working group may 105
include representatives from organizations representing athletic 106
trainers in the state, sports medicine physicians, that research athlete 107
safety and sudden death prevention, that oversees youth hockey, 108
independent interscholastic athletic leagues. The working group may 109
also include any member of the General Assembly who would like to 110
participate in the working group. The study shall include, but need not 111
be limited to, (1) a review of current policies issued by national sport 112
governing bodies on the use of throat guards in ice hockey, and (2) an 113
analysis of relevant studies (A) on the prevalence of catastrophic throat 114
injuries in interscholastic, intramural and youth ice hockey, (B) on the 115 Raised Bill No. 5466
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effectiveness of throat guards in preventing catastrophic throat injuries 116
in interscholastic, intramural and youth ice hockey, and (C) to identify 117
any concerns associated with the use of throat guards by interscholastic, 118
intramural and youth ice hockey athletes. 119
(b) Not later than January 1, 2023, the working group shall submit a 120
report on its findings and safety recommendations for interscholastic 121
and youth ice hockey programs to the joint standing committee of the 122
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, 123
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. 124
The working group shall terminate on the date that it submits such 125
report or January 1, 2023, whichever is later. 126
Sec. 5. Section 3 of public act 21-95 is repealed and the following is 127
substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage): 128
(a) There is established a task force to study issues relating to the 129
provision and funding of special education in the state during the school 130
years commencing July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2020, inclusive. Such study 131
shall include, but need not be limited to, an examination of (1) the 132
provision of special education and related services, including whether 133
local and regional boards of education are providing such services 134
directly or partnering with regional educational service centers, 135
contracting with a private provider of special education services, as 136
defined in section 10-91g of the general statutes, or as part of a 137
cooperative arrangement pursuant to section 10-158a of the general 138
statutes, (2) the cost of providing special education and related services, 139
the total aggregate amount per school district per year and the annual 140
percentage increase or decrease per school district of such cost, (3) the 141
effect that the cost of special education has on a board of education's 142
minimum budget requirement, (4) the level of state reimbursement to 143
boards of education for special education, including the total amount 144
for reimbursement submitted by each school district per year and the 145
total amount received by such school district per year, and the 146
percentage increase or decrease per year of the difference of the total 147
amount submitted and the total amount received for each school 148 Raised Bill No. 5466
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district, and (5) the criteria and manner by which school districts are 149
identifying students who require special education and related services, 150
including whether school districts are overidentifying or 151
underidentifying such students and the causes and reasons for such 152
overidentification and underidentification. 153
(b) The task force shall consist of the following members: 154
(1) Three appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives, 155
one of whom is a representative of the Special Education Equity for Kids 156
of Connecticut, one of whom is a representative of the Connecticut 157
Association of Boards of Education and one of whom is the parent or 158
guardian of a student who is enrolled in a public school and receiving 159
special education services; 160
(2) Three appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, one 161
of whom is a representative of the Connecticut Association of Public 162
School Superintendents, one of whom is a representative of the 163
Connecticut Education Association and one of whom is the parent or 164
guardian of a student who is enrolled in a public school and receiving 165
special education services; 166
(3) Two appointed by the majority leader of the House of 167
Representatives, one of whom is a representative of the American 168
Federation of Teachers-Connecticut and one of whom is a representative 169
of the Connecticut Parent Advocacy Center; 170
(4) Two appointed by the majority leader of the Senate, one of whom 171
is a representative of the Connecticut Council of Administrators of 172
Special Education and one of whom is a representative of the RESC 173
Alliance; 174
(5) Two appointed by the minority leader of the House of 175
Representatives, one of whom is a representative of the Connecticut 176
Association of School Administrators and one of whom is a 177
representative of the School and State Finance Project; 178 Raised Bill No. 5466
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(6) Two appointed by the minority leader of the Senate, one of whom 179
is a representative of the Connecticut Association of Schools and one of 180
whom is a representative of the Connecticut Association of School 181
Business Officials; 182
(7) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee. 183
(c) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than 184
thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be 185
filled by the appointing authority. 186
(d) The speaker of the House of Representatives and the president 187
pro tempore of the Senate shall select the cochairpersons of the task force 188
from among the members of the task force. Such cochairpersons shall 189
schedule the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later 190
than sixty days after the effective date of this section. 191
(e) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the 192
General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education 193
shall serve as administrative staff of the task force. 194
(f) Not later than January 1, [2022] 2023, the task force shall submit a 195
report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing 196
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 197
relating to education, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a 198
of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it 199
submits such report or January 1, [2022] 2023, whichever is later. 200
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 New section
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 10-15b(a)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2022 10-1
Sec. 4 from passage New section
Sec. 5 from passage PA 21-95, Sec. 3
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Statement of Purpose:
To (1) conduct a feasibility study of implementing recovery schools in
the state; (2) permit the parent of a student to have access to such
student's class rank; (3) add legislative appointments to the State Board
of Education; (4) establish a working group to study the efficacy of
throat guards in preventing catastrophic neck injuries to interscholastic,
intramural and youth ice hockey athletes; and (5) extend the deadline
for the special education task force to complete its work.
[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.]