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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1371
January Session, 2025
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A JUST CAUSE STANDARD FOR TEACHER
CONTRACT TERMINATIONS AND REQUIRING CONTRACT
TERMINATION HEARINGS FOR TEACHERS THAT HAVE ATTAINED
TENURE BE BEFORE A NEUTRAL HEARING OFFICER.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsections (c) to (e) of section 10-151 of the general statutes 1
are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 2
1, 2025): 3
(c) The contract of employment of a teacher who has not attained 4
tenure may be terminated at any time with a showing of just cause for 5
any of the reasons enumerated in subdivisions (1) to (6), inclusive, of 6
subsection (d) of this section; otherwise the contract of such teacher shall 7
be continued into the next school year unless such teacher receives 8
written notice by May first in one school year that such contract will not 9
be renewed for the following year. Upon the teacher's written request, 10
not later than three calendar days after such teacher receives such notice 11
of nonrenewal or termination, a notice of nonrenewal or termination 12
shall be supplemented not later than four calendar days after receipt of 13
the request by a statement of the reason or reasons for such nonrenewal 14
or termination. Such teacher, upon written request filed with the board 15
of education not later than ten calendar days after the receipt of notice 16
of termination, or nonrenewal shall be entitled to a hearing, except as 17 Substitute Bill No. 1371
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provided in this subsection, (1) before the board, or (2) if indicated in 18
such request and if designated by the board, before an impartial hearing 19
officer chosen by the teacher and the superintendent in accordance with 20
the provisions of subsection (d) of this section. Such hearing shall 21
commence not later than fifteen calendar days after receipt of such 22
request unless the parties mutually agree to an extension not to exceed 23
fifteen calendar days. The impartial hearing officer or a subcommittee 24
of the board of education, if the board of education designates a 25
subcommittee of three or more board members to conduct hearings, 26
shall submit written findings and recommendations to the board for 27
final disposition. The teacher shall have the right to appear with counsel 28
of the teacher's choice at the hearing. A teacher who has not attained 29
tenure shall not be entitled to a hearing concerning nonrenewal if the 30
reason for such nonrenewal is either elimination of position or loss of 31
position to another teacher. [The board of education shall rescind a 32
nonrenewal decision only if the board finds such decision to be arbitrary 33
and capricious.] Any such teacher whose contract is terminated for the 34
reasons enumerated in subdivisions (3) and (4) of subsection (d) of this 35
section shall have the right to appeal in accordance with the provisions 36
of subsection (e) of this section. 37
(d) The contract of employment of a teacher who has attained tenure 38
shall be continued from school year to school year, except that it may be 39
terminated at any time, with a showing of just cause, for one or more of 40
the following reasons: (1) Inefficiency, incompetence or ineffectiveness, 41
provided [, if a teacher is notified on or after July 1, 2014, that 42
termination is under consideration due to incompetence or 43
ineffectiveness,] the determination of incompetence or ineffectiveness is 44
based on evaluation of the teacher using teacher evaluation guidelines 45
established pursuant to section 10-151b; (2) insubordination against 46
reasonable rules of the board of education; (3) moral misconduct; (4) 47
disability, as shown by competent medical evidence; (5) elimination of 48
the position to which the teacher was appointed or loss of a position to 49
another teacher, if no other position exists to which such teacher may be 50
appointed if qualified, provided such teacher, if qualified, shall be 51 Substitute Bill No. 1371
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appointed to a position held by a teacher who has not attained tenure, 52
and provided further that determination of the individual contract or 53
contracts of employment to be terminated shall be made in accordance 54
with either (A) a provision for a layoff procedure agreed upon by the 55
board of education and the exclusive employees' representative 56
organization, or (B) in the absence of such agreement, a written policy 57
of the board of education; or (6) other due and sufficient [cause] reasons. 58
Nothing in this section or in any other section of the general statutes or 59
of any special act shall preclude a board of education from making an 60
agreement with an exclusive bargaining representative which contains 61
a recall provision. Prior to terminating a contract, the superintendent 62
shall give the teacher concerned a written notice that termination of such 63
teacher's contract is under consideration and give such teacher a 64
statement of the reasons for such consideration of termination. Not later 65
than ten calendar days after receipt of written notice by the 66
superintendent that contract termination is under consideration, such 67
teacher may file with the local or regional board of education a written 68
request for a hearing. [A board of education may designate a 69
subcommittee of three or more board members to conduct hearings and 70
submit written findings and recommendations to the board for final 71
disposition in the case of teachers whose contracts are terminated.] Such 72
hearing shall commence not later than fifteen calendar days after receipt 73
of such request, unless the parties mutually agree to an extension [,] not 74
to exceed fifteen calendar days, [(A) before the board of education or a 75
subcommittee of the board, or (B) if indicated in such request or if 76
designated by the board] before an impartial hearing officer chosen by 77
the teacher and the superintendent. If the parties are unable to agree 78
upon the choice of a hearing officer not later than five calendar days 79
after the decision to use a hearing officer, the hearing officer shall be 80
selected with the assistance of the American Arbitration Association 81
using its expedited selection process and in accordance with its rules for 82
selection of a neutral arbitrator in grievance arbitration. [If the hearing 83
officer is not selected with the assistance of such association after five 84
days, the hearing shall be held before the board of education or a 85
subcommittee of the board.] When the reason for termination is 86 Substitute Bill No. 1371
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incompetence or ineffectiveness, the hearing shall [(i)] (A) address the 87
question of whether the performance evaluation ratings of the teacher 88
were determined in good faith in accordance with the program adopted 89
by the local or regional board of education pursuant to section 10-151b 90
and were reasonable in light of the evidence presented, and [(ii)] (B) be 91
limited to twelve total hours of evidence and testimony, with each side 92
allowed not more than six hours to present evidence and testimony 93
except the [board, subcommittee of the board or] impartial hearing 94
officer may extend the time period for evidence and testimony at the 95
hearing when good cause is shown. Not later than forty-five calendar 96
days after receipt of the request for a hearing, the [subcommittee of the 97
board or] hearing officer, unless the parties mutually agree to an 98
extension not to exceed fifteen calendar days, shall [submit written 99
findings and a recommendation to the board of education as to the 100
disposition of the charges against the teacher and shall send a copy of 101
such findings and recommendation to the teacher. The board of 102
education shall give the teacher concerned its written decision not later 103
than fifteen calendar days after receipt of the written recommendation 104
of the subcommittee or hearing officer] render to the board of education 105
and the teacher a written decision that shall be binding on the parties. 106
Each party shall share equally the fee of the hearing officer and all other 107
costs incidental to the hearing. [If the hearing is before the board of 108
education, the board shall render its decision not later than fifteen 109
calendar days after the close of such hearing and shall send a copy of its 110
decision to the teacher.] The hearing shall be public if the teacher so 111
requests. [or the board, subcommittee or hearing officer so designates.] 112
The teacher concerned shall have the right to appear with counsel at the 113
hearing, whether public or private. A copy of a transcript of the 114
proceedings of the hearing [shall be furnished by the board of education, 115
upon written request by the teacher within fifteen days after the board's 116
decision, provided the teacher shall assume the cost of any such copy] 117
may be requested by either the board of education or the teacher not 118
later than fifteen days after the hearing officer's decision, provided the 119
requesting party shall bear the cost of any such copy. Nothing [herein] 120
contained in this section shall deprive a board of education or 121 Substitute Bill No. 1371
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superintendent of the power to suspend a teacher from duty 122
immediately when serious misconduct is charged without prejudice to 123
the rights of the teacher as otherwise provided in this section. 124
(e) Any teacher aggrieved by the decision of a board of education or 125
the hearing officer after a hearing as provided in subsection (d) of this 126
section may appeal therefrom, not later than thirty calendar days after 127
such decision, to the Superior Court. Such appeal shall be made 128
returnable to said court in the same manner as is prescribed for civil 129
actions brought to said court. Any such appeal shall be a privileged case 130
to be heard by the court as soon after the return day as is practicable. 131
The board of education or hearing officer shall file with the court a copy 132
of the complete transcript of the proceedings of the hearing and, for a 133
teacher who has not attained tenure, the board of education shall file the 134
minutes of board of education meetings relating to such termination, 135
including the vote of the board on the termination, together with such 136
other documents, or certified copies thereof, as shall constitute the 137
record of the case. The court, upon such appeal, shall review the 138
proceedings of such hearing. The court, upon such appeal and hearing 139
thereon, may affirm or reverse the decision appealed from in accordance 140
with subsection (j) of section 4-183. Costs shall not be allowed against 141
the board of education unless it appears to the court that it acted with 142
gross negligence or in bad faith or with malice in making the decision 143
appealed from. 144
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2025 10-151(c) to (e)
LAB Joint Favorable Subst.