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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 7217
AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS REVISIONS TO THE EDUCATION
STATUTES.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
SUMMARY
§§ 1-3 — INFORMATION ON PRIOR AND CURRENT YEAR ORIGINAL
AND ACTUAL EXPENDITU RES IN SCHOOL BUDGET PROCESS
Requires information on prior and current fiscal year line items to be included in the
itemized estimates prepared during the local and regional school budget processes
§ 4 — SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER MOU
Sets a deadline for when certain information must start being incorporated into SRO MOUs
and requires these MOUs to be updated at least every three years
§ 5 — SUPERINTENDENT ATTENDANCE AT SCHOO L BOARD
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS UNDER FOIA
Broadens the circumstances under which superintendents can attend school board
executive sessions under FOIA
§ 6 — REGIONAL SCHOOL BOARD RESERVE FUND S
Explicitly allows regional boards of education to deposit funds previously appropriated to
and currently in a reserve fund for capital and nonrecurring expenditures into a reserve
fund for educational expenditures
§ 7 — VISION SCREENINGS FOR STUDENTS
Explicitly allows school boards to offer vision screenings in preschool and second grade
§ 8 — COOPERATIVE PURCHASING CONTRACTS F OR SCHOOL
CONSTRUCTION
Creates an exception to the public bidding requirements for school construction projects
that use cooperative purchasing contracts offered through a RESC
§ 9 — OPEN CHOICE PROGRAM ADDITION
Adds Madison to the Open Choice program as a receiving and sending district
§ 10 — ATTENDANCE AT TEACHER AND ADMINIS TRATOR
NEGOTIATIONS
Requires a school board member to attend teacher and administrator employment condition
negotiations
§ 11 — HEALTH ASSESSMENT FORMS
Allows nurses to reject health assessment forms that are not the form required by SBE and
requires asthma action plans to be included in these forms if a student has asthma 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
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§ 12 — OUT-OF-SCHOOL SUSPENSION FOR STUDENTS IN
PRESCHOOL THROUGH GR ADE TWO
Reduces, from five to two days, the maximum out-of-school suspension length for students
in preschool through second grade; limits the use of out-of-school suspension for students
in these grades to instances constituting serious physical harm; and requires school
administrators to conduct a special education evaluation at related disciplinary hearings
for students in these grades
§ 13 — TWICE-EXPELLED STUDENTS
Requires school boards to offer an alternative education opportunity for students ages 16
to 18 who are expelled for the first or second time
§ 14 — NOTIFICATION OF RESTRAINT OR SECLUSION
Requires school boards to notify parents of a student placed in physical restraint or
seclusion on the day it happens
SUMMARY
This bill makes changes to various education statutes, as summarized
in the following section-by-section analysis.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2025
§§ 1-3 — INFORMATION ON PRIOR AND CURREN T YEAR
ORIGINAL AND ACTUAL EXPENDITURES IN SCHO OL BUDGET
PROCESS
Requires information on prior and current fiscal year line items to be included in the
itemized estimates prepared during the local and regional school budget processes
Local Boards of Education (§§ 1 & 2)
By law, local boards of education must prepare an itemized estimate
of school expenses in the upcoming fiscal year and submit it to the board
of finance or other authority making appropriations to the school
district at least two months before the meeting at which appropriations
will be made. The itemized estimate is one where broad budget
categories (e.g., salaries, utilities, grounds maintenance) are divided into
line items (CGS § 10-222).
The bill requires superintendents to annually give local school board
members the following information:
1. the amount that was appropriated to each line item at the start of
the fiscal year (“original amount”) and the amount of the line 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
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item at the end of the fiscal year (‘actual amount”) for the two
most recently completed fiscal years and
2. the original amount for each line item and the current amount for
the fiscal year currently in progress.
Under the bill, the superintendent must provide this information
during the preparation of the itemized estimate for FY 26 and each fiscal
year after this. (Because most municipalities will have adopted their
budgets before this bill takes effect, it appears that superintendents will
not be able to comply with this requirement until they prepare their
estimates for FY 27.)
The bill also requires the local board of education to include the above
information on original, actual, and current amounts in the itemized
estimate of school operating expenses.
Regional School Districts (§ 3)
The bill requires the proposed budget that a regional school board
presents at a public district meeting to include the same information on
budget line items required for the local school budgets, described above.
It also requires the same information to be included in the budget
presented at the annual meeting on the first Monday in May.
§ 4 — SCHOOL RESOURC E OFFICER MOU
Sets a deadline for when certain information must start being incorporated into SRO
MOUs and requires these MOUs to be updated at least every three years
By law, each local or regional board of education that assigns a school
resource officer (SRO) to its schools must have a memorandum of
understanding (MOU) with a local law enforcement agency. The MOU
must address the SRO’s role and responsibility in the school.
Under existing law, (1) school boards must post their MOU on their
website and in the school where the SRO is assigned and maintain the
MOU in a central location in the district, and (2) these MOUs must
include information on the officer’s daily interactions with students and
staff and a student discipline graduated response model. The bill
requires these two requirements to be met by January 1, 2026. 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
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The bill also requires these MOUs to be updated at least every three
years.
§ 5 — SUPERINTENDENT ATTENDANCE AT SCHOO L BOARD
EXECUTIVE SESSIONS U NDER FOIA
Broadens the circumstances under which superintendents can attend school board
executive sessions under FOIA
Under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), school board
meetings, like other public agency meetings, must generally be open to
the public. But school boards, like other public agencies, may hold
executive sessions where attendance is limited to board members and
people the board invites to give testimony or opinions related to the
matters before the board. Invitees’ attendance is limited to the period of
time during which their presence is necessary.
The bill expands the purposes for which a school board can invite a
superintendent into a closed executive session. Specifically, under the
bill, a school board can invite a superintendent to an executive session
in his or her capacity as the board’s chief executive officer, rather than
just for the limited purpose of testifying specifically to matters under the
board’s consideration.
§ 6 — REGIONAL SCHOO L BOARD RESERVE FUND S
Explicitly allows regional boards of education to deposit funds previously appropriated to
and currently in a reserve fund for capital and nonrecurring expenditures into a reserve
fund for educational expenditures
PA 24-45 allows regional boards of education to create reserve funds
for educational expenditures. Prior law had instead allowed boards to
create reserve funds for capital and nonrecurring expenditures. Starting
with FY 26, the bill explicitly allows regional boards of education to
deposit funds previously appropriated to and currently in a reserve
fund for capital and nonrecurring expenditures into a reserve fund for
educational expenditures.
§ 7 — VISION SCREENINGS FOR ST UDENTS
Explicitly allows school boards to offer vision screenings in preschool and second grade
The bill allows school boards to offer vision screenings to students in
preschool and second grade. By law, vision screenings are required to 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 5 4/10/25
be provided to all students in kindergarten, first grade, and third
through fifth grade.
§ 8 — COOPERATIVE PU RCHASING CONTRACTS F OR SCHOOL
CONSTRUCTION
Creates an exception to the public bidding requirements for school construction projects
that use cooperative purchasing contracts offered through a RESC
By law, most contracts and orders for school construction projects
receiving state assistance must be awarded to the lowest possible
qualified bidder following a public invitation. Existing law allows some
exceptions to the public bidding requirement, including for school
construction projects for which the district decides to use a Department
of Administrative Services contract.
The bill creates another exception to the public bidding requirements
for school construction projects that use cooperative purchasing
contracts offered through a Regional Education Service Center (RESC).
It also repeals a provision in current law specifying that RESC and
Council of Government (COG) cooperative purchasing contracts may
be qualified bidders and considered among the bids received after the
public invitation.
§ 9 — OPEN CHOICE PROGRAM ADDITION
Adds Madison to the Open Choice program as a receiving and sending district
The bill adds Madison to the Open Choice program as a receiving and
sending district with New Haven beginning the 2025-2026 school year.
This addition allows students from Madison to attend school in the New
Haven system and vice versa.
The Open Choice Program is a voluntary interdistrict attendance
program that allows students from large urban districts to attend
suburban schools and vice versa, on a space-available basis. Its purpose
is to reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation; improve academic
achievement; and provide public school choice. 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
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§ 10 — ATTENDANCE AT TEACHER AND ADMINIS TRATOR
NEGOTIATIONS
Requires a school board member to attend teacher and administrator employment
condition negotiations
The bill requires that at least one local or regional board of education
member be present for negotiations with teachers’ and administrators’
units over their salaries, hours, or other conditions of employment that
occur on or after July 1, 2025.
The Teacher Negotiation Act (TNA) allows both boards of education
and unions representing teachers and school administrators to negotiate
with each other over matters appropriate for collective bargaining. This
act also establishes the process and timetable for negotiating contracts
covering teachers’ wages, hours, and conditions of employment (CGS
§§ 10-153a to 10-153o).
§ 11 — HEALTH ASSESSMENT FORMS
Allows nurses to reject health assessment forms that are not the form required by SBE and
requires asthma action plans to be included in these forms if a student has asthma
By law, student health assessments and screenings must be recorded
on specific forms provided by the State Board of Education (SBE) and
included in the student’s cumulative health record.
The bill explicitly allows school nurses to reject assessments or
screenings submitted in a format other than the SBE-required form and
require resubmission on the SBE form.
Additionally, the bill requires that an asthma action plan be included
in health assessment forms for students diagnosed with asthma.
§ 12 — OUT-OF-SCHOOL SUSPENSION FOR STUD ENTS IN
PRESCHOOL THROUGH GR ADE TWO
Reduces, from five to two days, the maximum out-of-school suspension length for students
in preschool through second grade; limits the use of out-of-school suspension for students
in these grades to instances constituting serious physical harm; and requires school
administrators to conduct a special education evaluation at related disciplinary hearings
for students in these grades
The bill reduces, from five to two days, the maximum out-of-school
suspension length that school administration may impose on a student
in preschool through second grade. It also further limits the 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
Researcher: HP Page 7 4/10/25
circumstances under which school administration may give out-of-
school suspension to students in these grades.
Under current law, school administration may impose out-of-school
suspension on students in these grades if an administrator finds, at the
student’s informal disciplinary hearing, that the suspension is
appropriate due to evidence that the student’s conduct on school
grounds is behavior that causes physical harm. The bill instead limits
these suspensions only to cases where a student’s conduct constitutes
behavior that causes serious physical harm.
Additionally, at these disciplinary hearings, current law requires
school administrators to consider whether to convene a planning and
placement team to conduct an evaluation for special education
eligibility. The bill instead requires the administration to conduct the
evaluation at this hearing. Federal and state special education law
require these evaluations to, among other things, (1) be comprehensive
enough to identify all the child’s needs and cover all areas related to the
suspected disability and (2) incorporate a variety of assessment tools to
gather relevant functional, developmental, and academic information.
(It is unclear whether these evaluations could be conducted in a
disciplinary hearing in a way that complies with federal and state
requirements.) Existing SDE regulations require schools to promptly
refer to a planning and placement team all students who (1) have been
repeatedly suspended or (2) whose behavior, attendance, or progress in
school is unsatisfactory or marginally acceptable (Conn. Agencies Regs.,
§ 10-76d-7).
§ 13 — TWICE-EXPELLED STUDENTS
Requires school boards to offer an alternative education opportunity for students ages 16
to 18 who are expelled for the first or second time
The bill requires school boards to offer an alternative education
opportunity to students ages 16 to 18 who are expelled for the first or
second time and wish to continue their education. Current law requires
school boards to do so only for students in this age range who are
expelled for the first time. As under existing law, a student may be
offered the alternative education opportunity only if he or she complies 2025HB-07217-R000648-BA.DOCX
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with conditions the school board sets, and an expulsion before age 16
counts when school boards determine whether an alternative education
opportunity is required for students ages 16 to 18.
§ 14 — NOTIFICATION OF RESTRAINT OR SECL USION
Requires school boards to notify parents of a student placed in physical restraint or
seclusion on the day it happens
The bill requires school boards to notify the parents or guardian of a
student placed in physical restraint or seclusion on the day it happens,
rather than within 24 hours after it happened as current law requires.
As under existing law, the school board must make a reasonable effort
to notify them immediately after the restraint or seclusion begins.
By law, school employees are prohibited from physically restraining
a student or placing the student in seclusion except as an emergency
intervention to prevent immediate or imminent injury to the student or
others (CGS § 10-236b(b) & (d)). A restraint or seclusion may exceed 15
minutes only if an administer or certain other school personnel (e.g.,
health professionals) deems it necessary to prevent such an injury, and
this determination must be done every 30 minutes (CGS § 10-236b(f)).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Education Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 26 Nay 19 (03/24/2025)