OFFICE OF FISCAL ANALYSIS
Legislative Office Building, Room 5200
Hartford, CT 06106 (860) 240-0200
http://www.cga.ct.gov/ofa
HB-6762
AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOLS.
As Amended by House "A" (LCO 9075)
House Calendar No.: 330
Senate Calendar No.: 591
Primary Analyst: DD 6/2/23
Contributing Analyst(s):
OFA Fiscal Note
State Impact:
Agency Affected Fund-Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Education, Dept. GF - Cost See Below See Below
Early Childhood, Off. GF - Cost See Below See Below
Note: GF=General Fund
Municipal Impact:
Municipalities Effect FY 24 $ FY 25 $
Local and Regional School
Districts
Cost See Below See Below
Explanation
The bill makes a variety of changes to education statutes and results
in the fiscal impacts described below by section.
Section 1 results in a cost to the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) in
FY 25 of $15.5 million to increase the full-time School Readiness per
child cost up to $10,500 and supports approximately 9,830 seats.
Section 2 results in a potential cost to OEC to the extent that the
Commissioner waives Care4Kids eligibility requirements for certain at-
risk populations who may not otherwise qualify. For reference, the
average monthly per child cost under Care4Kids is approximately $788.
Section 3 addresses the administration of epinephrine by child care
providers, which results in no fiscal impact. 2023HB-06762-R01-FN.DOCX Page 2 of 5
Section 4 makes technical changes, which results in no fiscal impact.
Section 5 results in a cost in FY 24 and FY 25 to the State Department
of Education to (1) perform a one-time audit of the administration of
certain assessments and exam preparation time, and (2) issue
recommendations regarding time limits on the assessments. It is
anticipated that SDE will need to hire a consultant to perform the audit
and to develop the plan, which can result in significant costs depending
on the scope of the audit and the plan.
To the extent that SDE is able to obtain Federal funding to conduct
the audit, such costs would be at least partially offset. The extent to
which costs are offset would depend on the amount of Federal funding
SDE is able to obtain.
Section 6 establishes a Connecticut Civics Education and Media
Literacy Task Force to study strategies to improve civic engagement and
instruction on civics. This results in no fiscal impact to the state because
the task force has the expertise to meet the requirements of the bill.
Section 7 results in a potential minimal cost to local and regional
school districts beginning in FY 26. The section expands the required
program of study for public schools by specifying that social studies
must include civics and media literacy.
Social studies is a required part of the public school program of study
under current law. To the extent that a district's social studies
curriculum does not currently include civics and media literacy, there is
a potential cost associated with purchasing materials to cover the topic,
if free materials are unavailable. Any cost will vary based on the number
of materials that must be purchased.
Section 8 has no fiscal impact. It requires the Connecticut Technical
Education and Career System and the Office of Workforce Strategy to
study and report on various technical career related issues It is
anticipated that both agencies have the staff and expertise necessary to
complete the requirement. 2023HB-06762-R01-FN.DOCX Page 3 of 5
Section 9 exempts federal COVID-related education funding from
use in the calculation of the Excess Cost grant. This would result in a
cost to SDE if the Excess Cost grant is fully funded beginning in FY 24.
The grant has not been fully funded since FY 09.
The impact to districts will vary significantly based on the per-pupil
level of federal COVID-related education funding each district received.
Districts with relatively high levels of federal COVID-related education
funding will have a larger positive impact on their Excess Cost
reimbursements (all other factors held constant). Other districts may
receive less than they would have, without this provision.
Sections 10 and 11 make technical and clarifying changes which have
no fiscal impact.
Section 12 allows dual instruction when it is deemed necessary by a
student's individualized education plan (IEP) or Section 504 plan, or as
part of an intradistrict or interdistrict cooperative learning program,
beginning in FY 24. There is a cost, anticipated to be minimal, associated
with any equipment a district would need to purchase to facilitate dual
instruction (i.e., extra computers or monitors).
Section 13 expands the requirements of an existing task force
studying special education funding in the state. This has no fiscal impact
as it is not anticipated to increase the cost of completing the study.
Section 14 prohibits charter school student applications from
inquiring about such students' need for or receipt of special education.
This has no fiscal impact, as the provision is not anticipated to impact
the level of grant funding for charter schools.
Section 15 requires SDE to make available on its Web site information
regarding certain complaint investigations. This has no fiscal impact as
SDE has sufficient resources to post information online.
Section 16 prohibits local and regional school districts from
disciplining employees who make recommendations concerning the
provision of services to students with Section 504 plans. This has no 2023HB-06762-R01-FN.DOCX Page 4 of 5
fiscal impact.
Sections 17 and 18 result in a minimal cost beginning in FY 25 and
potential costs annually to local and regional boards of education by
requiring the State Board of Education (SBE) to create an English
learners bill of rights, specifying several of the rights that SBE must
include in the document, and requiring annual distribution of the bill of
rights.
Costs to districts will vary based on the final document created by
SBE and the degree to which districts are required to establish new
services or expand services they currently provide.
Districts are currently required by Federal and state law to meet
many of the rights specified in the amendment. For example, under
Federal law, translation services must be provided by school districts
upon parent request. To the extent that the bill requires school districts
to provide translation services regardless of whether a parent requested
them, there would be a cost.
Translation services typically cost between $125 and $175 per hour
with a two-hour minimum. Costs to districts will vary based on number
of instances translation services are provided without parent request,
and whether translators, Internet websites, or other types of translation
services are used. As the bill does not specify a date by which the bill of
rights must be completed, any such costs could begin in FY 24 or FY 25.
The amendment requires districts to begin annually providing copies
of the bill of rights to eligible students and their parents in FY 25, which
will result in annual minimal printing costs to districts.
Sections 19 to 36 make technical and conforming changes that have
no fiscal impact.
House "A" strikes the underlying bill and results in the above
identified fiscal impact.
The Out Years 2023HB-06762-R01-FN.DOCX Page 5 of 5
The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would
continue into the future subject to inflation.
The preceding Fiscal Impact statement is prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely
for the purposes of information, summarization and explanation and does not represent the intent of the General
Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of
informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is
consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any
specific department.