Table of Contents
Sec. 10-15. Towns to maintain schools.
Sec. 10-15a. Discontinuance of kindergarten programs restricted.
Sec. 10-15b. Access of parent or guardian to student's records. Inspection and subpoena of
school or student records.
Sec. 10-15c. Discrimination in public schools prohibited. School attendance by five-year-
olds.
Sec. 10-15d. Applicability of education statutes to the Unified School Districts and the vocational-technical schools.
Sec. 10-15e. Applicability of education statutes to incorporated or endowed high schools or
academies.
Sec. 10-16. Length of school year.
Sec. 10-16a. Silent meditation.
Sec. 10-16b. Prescribed courses of study.
Sec. 10-16c. State board to develop family life education curriculum guides.
Sec. 10-16d. Family life education programs not mandatory.
Sec. 10-16e. Students not required to participate in family life education programs.
Sec. 10-16f. Family life programs to supplement required curriculum.
Secs. 10-16g to 10-16k. Increased student time on task; grants. Application for grants; selection criteria. Project evaluations; statement of expenditures. Assistance and information
to school districts. Continuation of pilot program; report.
Sec. 10-16l. Establishment of graduation date.
Sec. 10-16m. Extended-day kindergarten. Grants.
Sec. 10-16n. Head Start grant program. Grant allocation. Advisory committee.
Sec. 10-16o. Development of network of school readiness programs.
Sec. 10-16p. Definitions. Lead agency for school readiness; standards. Grant programs.
Sec. 10-16q. School readiness program requirements. Per child cost limitation. Sliding fee
scale.
Sec. 10-16r. Local school readiness councils; duties. Regional school readiness councils.
Sec. 10-16s. Interagency agreement on school readiness. Assessment measures.
Sec. 10-16t. Participation by five-year-olds in school readiness programs.
Sec. 10-16u. Grants for school readiness programs in transitional school districts.
Sec. 10-17. English language to be medium of instruction. Exception.
Sec. 10-17a. Establishment of bilingual and bicultural program.
Secs. 10-17b and 10-17c. Instruction bilingually and biculturally; procedures, materials
and equipment; purpose. Advice and assistance of state board; evaluation of programs.
Sec. 10-17d. Application for and receipt of federal funds.
Sec. 10-17e. Definitions.
Sec. 10-17f. Duties of boards of education regarding bilingual education programs. Development of state English mastery standard. Regulations.
Sec. 10-17g. Application for grant. Annual evaluation report.
Sec. 10-17h. Planning, development or operation of initially required bilingual program.
Sec. 10-17i. Encouragement of increased language instruction. Proficiency in language recognized on permanent record.
Sec. 10-17j. Request to commissioner to use certified English as a second language teacher
in place of bilingual education teacher in cases of teacher shortage. Teacher exchange programs.
Sec. 10-18. Courses in United States history, government and duties and responsibilities of
citizenship.
Sec. 10-18a. Contents of textbooks and other general instructional materials.
Sec. 10-18b. Development of curriculum guides for firearm safety programs.
Sec. 10-18c. Firearm safety programs. Exemption from participation.
Sec. 10-19. Teaching about alcohol, nicotine or tobacco, drugs and acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Training of personnel.
Sec. 10-19a. Superintendent to designate substance abuse prevention team. Training of team
members.
Sec. 10-19b. Advisory councils on drug abuse prevention.
Secs. 10-19c to 10-19l.
Sec. 10-19m. (Formerly Sec. 17a-39). Youth service bureaus. Annual report. Regulations.
Sec. 10-19n. (Formerly Sec. 17a-40). State aid for establishment and expansion of youth service bureaus.
Sec. 10-19o. (Formerly Sec. 17a-40a). Youth service bureau grant program.
Sec. 10-19p. (Formerly Sec. 17a-41). Assistance to youth service bureaus.
Sec. 10-20. Comptroller may withhold school money.
Sec. 10-20a. Connecticut career certificate program.
Sec. 10-20b. Connecticut career certificate. Compliance with federal laws and regulations,
required.
Sec. 10-20c. Issuance of Connecticut career certification. Credit for program.
Sec. 10-20d. Grants for support of Connecticut career certificate programs.
Sec. 10-20e. Awarding of grants.
Sec. 10-20f. Retention of appropriated funds, when.
Sec. 10-21. Vocational guidance.
Sec. 10-21a. Accredited courses offered by employers.
Sec. 10-21b. Programs offered jointly by boards of education and business firms; neighborhood assistance.
Sec. 10-21c. Donation of teaching services by private sector specialists; neighborhood assistance.
Secs. 10-21d and 10-21e. School-Business Forum; membership; procedures. School-Business Forum; responsibilities; termination.
Secs. 10-22 and 10-23. Instruction in music. Instruction on highway safety.
Sec. 10-24.
Sec. 10-24a. (Formerly Sec. 14-157). State grants for motor vehicle operation and highway
safety course.
Sec. 10-24b. Fee when course offered outside regular school hours.
Sec. 10-24c. Grants for motor vehicle operation and highway safety courses in private secondary schools.
Sec. 10-24d.
Sec. 10-24e. Regulations concerning content of safe driving course.
Sec. 10-25. Secondary education for veterans.
Sec. 10-26. Education grant to child of deceased or disabled veteran or missing in action
member of armed forces.
Sec. 10-27. Exchange of professional personnel and students.
Sec. 10-28.
Sec. 10-28a. Advice and assistance to school library media centers.
Sec. 10-28b. School volunteers; information and assistance about; state-wide coordinator;
state plan.
Sec. 10-29. Library service center in Middlesex County.
Sec. 10-29a. Certain days and weeks to be proclaimed by Governor. Distribution and number of
proclamations.
Sec. 10-29b. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Commission.
Secs. 10-30 and 10-30a. Certain days to be proclaimed by Governor; distribution and number
of proclamations. Proclamation of Hat Day prohibited.
Secs. 10-31 and 10-32. Establishment and maintenance. Duties of town board of education.
Sec. 10-33. Tuition in towns in which no high school is maintained.
Sec. 10-34. Approval by state board of incorporated or endowed high school or academy.
Sec. 10-35. Notice of discontinuance of high school service to nonresidents. Cooperative arrangements and school building projects for school accommodations.
Sec. 10-36. Agreements with Gilbert School and Woodstock Academy.
Secs. 10-37 and 10-38. Transportation within the town. Joint high schools.
Sec. 10-38a. Maintenance of postsecondary schools.
Secs. 10-38b to 10-38i.
Sec. 10-38j. Recommendations for expansion of higher educational opportunities.
Secs. 10-38k and 10-38l.
Sec. 10-39. Temporary regional school study committee.
Sec. 10-40. Appointment of committee members.
Sec. 10-41. Officers and records of committee.
Sec. 10-42. Expenses of committee.
Sec. 10-43. Reports to towns. Dissolution of committee.
Sec. 10-44. Disposition of committee records.
Sec. 10-45. Referendum on establishment of regional districts.
Sec. 10-46. Regional board of education.
Sec. 10-46a. Transfer of responsibility to regional board.
Sec. 10-47. Powers of regional board. Meetings.
Sec. 10-47a. Withdrawal of grades.
Sec. 10-47b. Addition or withdrawal of grades.
Sec. 10-47c. Amendment of plan.
Secs. 10-48 and 10-49. Relocation of site. Site in town outside district.
Sec. 10-49a. Site in town outside district.
Sec. 10-50. Admission of adjacent town to district.
Sec. 10-51. Fiscal year. Budget. Payments by member towns; adjustments to payments. Investment of funds. Temporary borrowing. Reserve fund.
Sec. 10-51a. Petition to determine deficiency in town payment.
Sec. 10-52. Adult education.
Sec. 10-53. Application of education statutes.
Sec. 10-54. Transportation grants.
Sec. 10-55. Pupils to attend regional school.
Sec. 10-56. Corporate powers. Bond issues.
Secs. 10-57 and 10-58. Debt limitation. Investment of proceeds of bond issue.
Sec. 10-58a. Default of district in payment on bonds or notes. Withholding of state aid.
Sec. 10-59. Fiscal year. Budget.
Sec. 10-60. Borrowing in addition to bonds.
Sec. 10-60a. Refunding bonds.
Secs. 10-61 to 10-63. Withdrawal of town. Dissolution of district. Payment of indebtedness
on dissolution of district.
Sec. 10-63a. Vote for withdrawal of town or dissolution of district.
Sec. 10-63b. Committee to study issues relating to withdrawal or dissolution.
Sec. 10-63c. Report of committee.
Secs. 10-63d and 10-63e. Submission of final plan; publication of notice. Special town meetings on proposal.
Sec. 10-63f. Obligations not affected by action.
Sec. 10-63g. Withdrawal and dissolution restricted.
Sec. 10-63h. Applicability to existing regional school districts.
Sec. 10-63i. Regional school district established before June 24, 1969.
Sec. 10-63j. "Representation", defined.
Sec. 10-63k. Regional school reapportionment committee.
Sec. 10-63l. Powers of regional school reapportionment committee.
Sec. 10-63m. Approval or rejection of plan recommended by regional school reapportionment
committee.
Sec. 10-63n. Referendum for regional school reapportionment. Establishment of plan.
Sec. 10-63o. Execution of reapportionment plan.
Sec. 10-63p. Time limits for reapportionment. Right to compel compliance.
Sec. 10-63q. Notification as to constitutionality of regional board representation following decennial census.
Sec. 10-63r. Establishment of new plan of representation permitted after initial reapportionment.
Sec. 10-63s. Duties of Commissioner of Education. Actions of regional board to be by
weighted vote.
Sec. 10-63t. Applicability of reapportionment requirements.
Secs. 10-63u to 10-63y. Effective date of reapportionment requirements of sections 10-46(a)
and 10-63j to 10-63u, inclusive. Withdrawal from or dissolution of regional school districts
in existence on April 21, 1976. Establishment of committee on withdrawal or dissolution. Report of committee. Limitation on number of applications for withdrawal or dissolution.
Sec. 10-64. Establishment of regional vocational agriculture centers. Moratorium; exception.
Sec. 10-65. Grants for constructing and operating vocational agriculture centers. Tuition
charges.
Sec. 10-65a. Plan to increase racial and ethnic diversity.
Sec. 10-65b. Provision of student's nonagricultural academic courses; shared-time arrangements.
Sec. 10-66. Regulations.
Sec. 10-66a. Establishment.
Sec. 10-66b. Operation and management. Board.
Sec. 10-66c. Powers of board of center.
Sec. 10-66d. Participation by boards of education and nonpublic schools.
Sec. 10-66e. Payment of expenses.
Sec. 10-66f. Participation in programs of other centers. Joint action by centers.
Sec. 10-66g. Budget and projected revenues statement. Annual audit.
Sec. 10-66h. Annual evaluation of programs and services.
Sec. 10-66i. Applicability of statutes. Receipt of payments.
Sec. 10-66j. Regulations. Annual grants. Requirement for use of part of grant.
Sec. 10-66k. Revocation of participation; effect on pledge for security of bonds. Existence
of center and repayment of obligations.
Sec. 10-66l. Boards of education may join center within or outside area.
Sec. 10-66m. Other cooperative agreements not affected.
Sec. 10-66n. Grants for identifying and disseminating information re exemplary classroom
projects.
Secs. 10-66o to 10-66z.
Sec. 10-66aa. Charter schools: Definitions.
Sec. 10-66bb. Application process and requirements. Charter renewal. Probation. Revocation.
Sec. 10-66cc. School profile. Report.
Sec. 10-66dd. School professionals employed in charter schools. Charter schools subject to
laws governing public schools; exceptions; waivers.
Sec. 10-66ee. Charter school funding. Special education students. Transportation. Contracts.
Sec. 10-66ff. Powers. Liability limited. Participation in Short-Term Investment Fund.
Sec. 10-66gg. Report to General Assembly.
Sec. 10-67. Definitions.
Sec. 10-68. Appointment of director of adult education.
Sec. 10-69. Adult education.
Sec. 10-70. Rooms and personnel.
Sec. 10-71. State grants for adult education programs.
Sec. 10-71a. State grants for adult education programs. Eligibility requirements.
Secs. 10-72 and 10-73. Exemption may be granted by state board. Schools for non-English-
speaking adults.
Sec. 10-73a. Adult education fees and charges; waivers. Adult education school activity
fund.
Sec. 10-73b. Grants for adult education services or programs conforming to state plan.
Sec. 10-73c. State Board of Education administrative expenses for adult education.
Sec. 10-73d. Request of certain students to attend adult education classes. Assignment.
Sec. 10-74. State aid for schools for non-English-speaking adults.
Sec. 10-74a. Summer courses. Charges.
Sec. 10-74b. Grants for remedial summer school programs.
Sec. 10-74c. Grants for young parents programs.
Sec. 10-74d. Grants for interdistrict cooperative programs.
Sec. 10-74e. Basic Education Training Team for Employment Readiness; state match.
Secs. 10-75 to 10-75k and 10-76. Educationally exceptional children. Children requiring special education. Records. Services. Children excluded from school, when. Programs. State aid.
State board to cooperate with other agencies. Mentally retarded children. Physically handicapped children. Socially and emotionally maladjusted children. Receipt of gifts and bequests. Contracts with sheltered workshops and rehabilitation centers. State aid for regional
educational facilities for trainable mentally retarded children. Physically handicapped
children; definition.
Sec. 10-76a. Definitions.
Sec. 10-76b. State supervision of special education programs and services. Regulations. Coordinating agency.
Sec. 10-76c. Receipt and use of money and personal property.
Sec. 10-76d. Duties and powers of boards of education to provide special education programs
and services. Determination of eligibility for Medicaid. State agency placements; apportionment of costs. Relationship of insurance to special education costs.
Sec. 10-76e. School construction grant for cooperative regional special education facilities.
Sec. 10-76f. Definition of terms used in formula for state aid for special education.
Sec. 10-76g. State aid for special education.
Sec. 10-76h. Special education hearing and review procedure. Mediation of disputes.
Sec. 10-76i. Advisory Council for Special Education.
Sec. 10-76j. Five-year plan for special education.
Sec. 10-76k. (Formerly Sec. 10-76i). Development of experimental educational programs.
Sec. 10-76l. Annual evaluation of special education programs.
Sec. 10-76m. Auditing of claims for special education assistance.
Sec. 10-76n. Special education resource center.
Sec. 10-76o. Special education at the Gilbert School, Norwich Free Academy and Woodstock
Academy.
Sec. 10-76p. Reimbursement where state agency makes private placement.
Sec. 10-76q. Special education at regional vocational-technical schools.
Sec. 10-76r. Grant payment for certain special education placements for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1983.
Sec. 10-76s. Special education study committee.
Sec. 10-76t. Definitions re primary mental health program.
Sec. 10-76u. School-based primary mental health programs established. Grants to boards of
education.
Sec. 10-76v. Program components. Duties of mental health professionals. Parental consent required.
Sec. 10-76w. Duties of department re primary mental health program.
Sec. 10-76x. Boards of education to contribute to program. Misuse of grants.
Sec. 10-76y. Assistive devices.
Secs. 10-76z and 10-76aa.
Secs. 10-76bb and 10-76cc. Plans for programs and services for certain children requiring
special education. Reimbursement for expenditures to develop plans.
Sec. 10-76dd. Special education supervisory personnel.
Sec. 10-76ee. Administrative representative required for planning and placement team
meetings.
Sec. 10-76ff. Procedures for determining if a child requires special education.
Sec. 10-76gg. Information on race, ethnicity and disability category of children requiring
special education.
Secs. 10-77 to 10-91. Education of physically or mentally handicapped children, generally.
Secs. 10-91a to 10-91e. State-wide system of early intervention services: Definitions; regulations; termination; coordinating council; Medicaid reimbursement; limitation on use of
funds; sliding scale for parental contributions; state right of recovery or indemnification
against insurers.
Sec. 10-92. Education at Newington Children's Hospital.
Sec. 10-92a. Use of supplemental resources for children not eligible for special education.
Secs. 10-93 to 10-94d. Statement of costs of educational program. Grant to Newington Children's Hospital. Out-of-state education of perceptually handicapped children. Program for socially and emotionally maladjusted children at Children's Center; personnel in teachers' retirement system. Payment for children placed by Commissioner of Human Resources or other
agencies. State Board of Education as custodian of special funds from government to center.
Sec. 10-94e. Exemption of career education program students from certain labor laws while
working therein.
Sec. 10-94f. Definitions.
Sec. 10-94g. Commissioner of Education to appoint surrogate parent. Procedure for objection
to or extension of said appointment.
Sec. 10-94h. Duration of appointment as surrogate parent. Appointment of successor surrogate
parent.
Sec. 10-94i. Rights and liabilities of surrogate parents.
Sec. 10-94j. Regulations re appointment of surrogate parents.
Sec. 10-94k. Funding of surrogate parent program.
Sec. 10-95. Vocational-technical schools.
Sec. 10-95a. Student activity programs at state regional vocational-technical schools.
Secs. 10-95b to 10-95d. East shore career education center. Vocational Education Extension
Fund. Fees for evening vocational education program.
Sec. 10-95e. Vocational Education Extension Fund. Apprenticeship account.
Secs. 10-95f and 10-95g.
Sec. 10-95h. Advisory committee on regional vocational-technical schools.
Sec. 10-95i. Long-range plan of priorities and goals for the regional vocational-technical
school system. Trade programs. Capital equipment plan.
Sec. 10-95j. Information on admissions, faculty and efforts to strengthen public awareness
of the regional vocational-technical schools and the role of school craft committees.
Sec. 10-95k. Biennial report to the General Assembly.
Sec. 10-95l. Training programs for certified employees.
Secs. 10-96 to 10-96b. Standards of approval and grants-in-aid for vocational schools and
industrial arts programs; evaluation of vocational and occupational programs. Master plan for
vocational and career education. Priority listing of vocational-technical school capital
projects.
Sec. 10-97. Transportation to vocational schools.
Sec. 10-98. Vocational agricultural training.
Sec. 10-99. Industrial account.
Secs. 10-99a to 10-99d. Development of career and vocational education plans; review by
state board. Grants. Annual reports. Administrative costs.
Sec. 10-99e.
Secs. 10-100 to 10-108.
Secs. 10-108a to 10-108f.
Secs. 10-109 to 10-109c.
Secs. 10-109d and 10-110.
Secs. 10-111 and 10-112. Practice schools. Scholarships.
Secs. 10-113 to 10-116a.
Secs. 10-116b to 10-116k. State Scholarship Commission. Eligibility for financial assistance; award and amount; limitations for postgraduate study. Duties of Commission for Higher
Education. Scholarships for graduate training of teachers in specific fields. Grants for precollege or undergraduate study to persons with restricted educational achievement and to institutions providing such persons with special services. Work-study programs. Scholarships
for Vietnam era veterans. State Student Financial Assistance Commission.
Secs. 10-116l to 10-116s.
GENERAL
Sec. 10-15. Towns to maintain schools. Public schools including kindergartens
shall be maintained in each town for at least one hundred eighty days of actual school
sessions during each year. When public school sessions are cancelled for reasons of
inclement weather or otherwise, the rescheduled sessions shall not be held on Saturday
or Sunday. Public schools may conduct week-end education programs to provide supplemental and remedial services to students. The State Board of Education (1) may authorize
the shortening of any school year for a school district, a school or a portion of a school
on account of an unavoidable emergency, and (2) may authorize implementation of
scheduling of school sessions to permit full year use of facilities which may not offer
each child one hundred eighty days of school sessions within a given school year, but
which assures an opportunity for each child to average a minimum of one hundred eighty
days of school sessions per year during thirteen years of educational opportunity in the
elementary and secondary schools. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section and
section 10-16, the State Board of Education may, upon application by a local or regional
board of education, approve for any single school year, in whole or in part, a plan to
implement alternative scheduling of school sessions which assures at least four hundred
fifty hours of actual school work for nursery schools and half-day kindergartens and at
least nine hundred hours of actual school work for full-day kindergartens and grades
one to twelve, inclusive. Sec. 10-15a. Discontinuance of kindergarten programs restricted. Section 10-
15a is repealed. Sec. 10-15b. Access of parent or guardian to student's records. Inspection and
subpoena of school or student records. (a) Either parent or legal guardian of a minor
student shall, upon written request to a local or regional board of education and within
a reasonable time, be entitled to knowledge of and access to all educational, medical, or
similar records maintained in such student's cumulative record, except that no parent
or legal guardian shall be entitled to information considered privileged under section
10-154a. Sec. 10-15c. Discrimination in public schools prohibited. School attendance
by five-year-olds. (a) The public schools shall be open to all children five years of age
and over who reach age five on or before the first day of January of any school year,
and each such child shall have, and shall be so advised by the appropriate school authorities, an equal opportunity to participate in the activities, programs and courses of study
offered in such public schools, at such time as the child becomes eligible to participate
in such activities, programs and courses of study, without discrimination on account
of race, color, sex, religion, national origin or sexual orientation; provided boards of
education may, by vote at a meeting duly called, admit to any school children under
five years of age. Sec. 10-15d. Applicability of education statutes to the Unified School Districts
and the vocational-technical schools. For the fiscal year beginning July 1, 1987, and
annually thereafter, all provisions of the general statutes concerning education, except
those provisions relating to the eligibility for noncompetitive state aid unless otherwise
provided, shall apply to the operation of the State of Connecticut-Unified School District
#2 established pursuant to section 17a-37 within the Department of Children and Families, State of Connecticut-Unified School District #1 established pursuant to section
18-99a within the Department of Correction and State of Connecticut-Unified School
District #3 established pursuant to section 17a-240 within the Department of Mental
Retardation. All provisions of the general statutes concerning education, except those
provisions relating to the eligibility for state aid unless otherwise provided, shall apply
to the operation of the vocational-technical schools established pursuant to the provisions of section 10-95. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, where such a
school or school district shows that a particular statutory provision should not apply,
the commissioner may grant an exception. Sec. 10-15e. Applicability of education statutes to incorporated or endowed
high schools or academies. All provisions of the general statutes concerning teachers
shall apply to teachers employed by incorporated or endowed high schools or academies
approved under the provisions of section 10-34. Teachers who are not certified and
employed by such high schools or academies prior to June 30, 1983, shall be excluded
from the provisions of this section until certified. Sec. 10-16. Length of school year. Each school district shall provide in each
school year no less than one hundred and eighty days of actual school sessions for grades
kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, nine hundred hours of actual school work for full-day
kindergarten and grades one to twelve, inclusive, and four hundred and fifty hours of
half-day kindergarten, provided school districts shall not count more than seven hours
of actual school work in any school day towards the total required for the school year.
If weather conditions result in an early dismissal or a delayed opening of school, a school
district which maintains separate morning and afternoon half-day kindergarten sessions
may provide either a morning or afternoon half-day kindergarten session on such day. Sec. 10-16a. Silent meditation. Each local or regional board of education shall
provide opportunity at the start of each school day to allow those students and teachers
who wish to do so, the opportunity to observe such time in silent meditation. Sec. 10-16b. Prescribed courses of study. (a) In the public schools the program
of instruction offered shall include at least the following subject matter, as taught by
legally qualified teachers, the arts; career education; consumer education; health and
safety, including, but not limited to, human growth and development, nutrition, first aid,
disease prevention, community and consumer health, physical, mental and emotional
health, including youth suicide prevention, substance abuse prevention, safety, which
may include the dangers of gang membership, and accident prevention; language arts,
including reading, writing, grammar, speaking and spelling; mathematics; physical education; science; social studies, including, but not limited to, citizenship, economics,
geography, government and history; and in addition, on at least the secondary level, one
or more foreign languages and vocational education. For purposes of this subsection,
language arts may include American sign language or signed English, provided such
subject matter is taught by a qualified instructor under the supervision of a teacher who
holds a certificate issued by the State Board of Education. Sec. 10-16c. State board to develop family life education curriculum guides.
The State Board of Education shall, on or before September 1, 1980, develop curriculum
guides to aid local and regional boards of education in developing family life education
programs within the public schools. The curriculum guides shall include, but not be
limited to, information on developing a curriculum including family planning, human
sexuality, parenting, nutrition and the emotional, physical, psychological, hygienic, economic and social aspects of family life, provided the curriculum guides shall not include
information pertaining to abortion as an alternative to family planning. Sec. 10-16d. Family life education programs not mandatory. Nothing in sections 10-16c to 10-16f, inclusive, shall be construed to require any local or regional
board of education to develop or institute such family life education programs. Sec. 10-16e. Students not required to participate in family life education programs. No student shall be required by any local or regional board of education to
participate in any such family life program which may be offered within such public
schools. A written notification to the local or regional board by the student's parent or
legal guardian shall be sufficient to exempt the student from such program in its entirety
or from any portion thereof so specified by the parent or legal guardian. Sec. 10-16f. Family life programs to supplement required curriculum. Any
such family life program instituted by any local or regional board of education shall be
in addition to and not a substitute for any health, education, hygiene or similar curriculum
requirements in effect on October 1, 1979. Secs. 10-16g to 10-16k. Increased student time on task; grants. Application
for grants; selection criteria. Project evaluations; statement of expenditures. Assistance and information to school districts. Continuation of pilot program; report.
Sections 10-16g to 10-16k, inclusive, are repealed. Sec. 10-16l. Establishment of graduation date. Notwithstanding any provision
of the general statutes to the contrary, a local or regional board of education may establish
for any school year a firm graduation date for students in grade twelve which is no earlier
than the one hundred eighty-fifth day noted in the school calendar originally adopted
by the board for that school year, except that a board on or after April first in any school
year may establish such a firm graduation date for that school year which at the time of
such establishment provides for at least one hundred eighty days of school. Sec. 10-16m. Extended-day kindergarten. Grants. Section 10-16m is repealed. Sec. 10-16n. Head Start grant program. Grant allocation. Advisory committee. (a) The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of
Social Services, shall establish a competitive grant program to assist nonprofit agencies
and local and regional boards of education, which are federal Head Start grantees, in (1)
establishing extended-day and full-day, year-round, Head Start programs or expanding
existing Head Start programs to extended-day or full-day, year-round programs, (2)
enhancing program quality and (3) increasing the number of children served. The commissioner, after consultation with the committee established pursuant to subsection (c)
of this section, shall establish criteria for the grants, provided at least twenty-five per
cent of the funding for such grants shall be for the purpose of enhancing program quality.
Nonprofit agencies or boards of education seeking grants pursuant to this section shall
make application to the Commissioner of Education on such forms and at such times
as the commissioner shall prescribe. All grants pursuant to this section shall be funded
within the limits of available appropriations or otherwise from federal funds and private
donations. At least seventy-five per cent of the funding pursuant to this section shall be
allocated to Head Start programs established prior to July 1, 1992. All full-day, year-
round Head Start programs funded pursuant to this section shall be in compliance with
federal Head Start performance standards. Sec. 10-16o. Development of network of school readiness programs. The state
shall encourage the development of a network of school readiness programs pursuant
to sections 10-16p to 10-16r, inclusive, 10-16u and 17b-749a in order to: Sec. 10-16p. Definitions. Lead agency for school readiness; standards. Grant
programs. (a) As used in sections 10-16o to 10-16r, inclusive, 10-16u, 17b-749a and
17b-749c: Sec. 10-16q. School readiness program requirements. Per child cost limitation. Sliding fee scale. (a) Each school readiness program shall include: (1) A plan for
collaboration with other community programs and services, including public libraries,
and for coordination of resources in order to facilitate full-day and year-round child care
and education programs for children of working parents and parents in education or
training programs; (2) parent involvement, parenting education and outreach; (3) (A)
record-keeping policies that require documentation of the name and address of each
child's doctor, primary care provider and health insurance company and information
on whether the child is immunized and has had health screens pursuant to the federal
Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment Services Program under 42
USC 1396d, and (B) referrals for health services, including referrals for appropriate
immunizations and screenings; (4) nutrition services; (5) referrals to family literacy
programs that incorporate adult basic education and provide for the promotion of literacy
through access to public library services; (6) admission policies that promote enrollment
of children from different racial, ethnic and economic backgrounds and from other communities; (7) a plan of transition for participating children from the school readiness
program to kindergarten and provide for the transfer of records from the program to the
kindergarten program; (8) a plan for professional development for staff; (9) a sliding
fee scale for families participating in the program pursuant to section 17b-749d; and
(10) an annual evaluation of the effectiveness of the program. On and after July 1, 2000,
school readiness programs shall use the assessment measures developed pursuant to
section 10-16s in conducting their annual evaluations. Sec. 10-16r. Local school readiness councils; duties. Regional school readiness
councils. (a) A town seeking to apply for a grant pursuant to subsection (c) of section
10-16p or section 10-16u shall convene a local school readiness council. Any other town
may convene such a council. The chief elected official of the town or, in the case of a
regional school district, the chief elected officials of the towns in the school district and
the superintendent of schools for the school district shall jointly appoint and convene
such council. Each school readiness council shall be composed of: (1) The chief elected
official, or the official's designee; (2) the superintendent of schools, or a management
level staff person as the superintendent's designee; (3) parents; (4) representatives from
local programs such as Head Start, family resource centers, nonprofit and for-profit
child day care centers, group day care homes, prekindergarten and nursery schools, and
family day care home providers; and (5) other representatives from the community who
provide services to children. The chief elected official shall designate the chairperson
of the school readiness council. Sec. 10-16s. Interagency agreement on school readiness. Assessment measures. (a) The Commissioners of Education and Social Services shall develop an
agreement to define the duties and responsibilities of their departments concerning
school readiness programs. The commissioners shall consult with other affected state
agencies. The agreement shall include, but not be limited to, a multiyear interagency
agreement to establish and implement an integrated school readiness plan. Functions
to be described and responsibilities to be undertaken by the two departments shall be
delineated in the agreement. Sec. 10-16t. Participation by five-year-olds in school readiness programs. A
local school readiness council may elect to reserve up to five per cent of the spaces in
its school readiness programs for children who are five years of age and are eligible to
attend school pursuant to section 10-15c. Such children shall only be eligible to participate in the school readiness program if they have been in the program for at least one
year and the parent or legal guardian of such a child, the school readiness program
provider and the local or regional school district in which the child would otherwise
be attending school agree that the child is not ready for kindergarten. Sec. 10-16u. Grants for school readiness programs in transitional school districts. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, and each fiscal year thereafter, the
Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services,
shall provide grants, within available appropriations, to eligible school readiness program providers pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-16p to provide spaces in accredited or approved school readiness programs for eligible children who reside in transitional school districts pursuant to section 10-263c, except for transitional school districts
eligible for grants pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-16p. Under the program, the
grant shall be provided to the town in which such transitional school district is located.
Eligibility shall be determined for a five-year period based on a school district's designation as a transitional school district in the initial year of application, except that grants
pursuant to this section shall not be provided for transitional school districts eligible for
grants pursuant to subsection (c) of said section 10-16p. Grant awards shall be made
annually contingent upon available funding and a satisfactory annual evaluation. The
chief elected official of such town and the superintendent of schools for such transitional
school district shall submit a plan for the expenditure of grant funds and responses to
the local request for proposal process to the Departments of Education and Social Services. The departments shall jointly review such plans and shall each approve the portion
of such plan within its jurisdiction for funding. The plan shall meet the requirements
specified in subsection (c) of said section 10-16p. Sec. 10-17. English language to be medium of instruction. Exception. The medium of instruction and administration in all public and private elementary schools shall
be the English language, except that instruction as provided in sections 10-17a and 10-
17f may be given in any language other than English to any pupil who, by reason of
foreign birth, ancestry or otherwise, experiences difficulty in reading and understanding
English. Sec. 10-17a. Establishment of bilingual and bicultural program. Any local or
regional board of education may establish at any level of instruction a bilingual and
bicultural program of study involving a culture in which a language other than English
is predominantly spoken, provided the purpose of such program shall be to enable children to become proficient in English. A private school may, with the approval of the
State Board of Education, establish such a program of bilingual education. Secs. 10-17b and 10-17c. Instruction bilingually and biculturally; procedures,
materials and equipment; purpose. Advice and assistance of state board; evaluation of programs. Sections 10-17b and 10-17c are repealed. Sec. 10-17d. Application for and receipt of federal funds. Subject to the regulations adopted by the State Board of Education pursuant to section 10-11, each local or
regional board of education shall have the power to apply for and to receive federal
funds made available directly to local communities for the programs provided in sections
10-17, 10-17a and 10-17f. Sec. 10-17e. Definitions. Whenever used in sections 10-17 and 10-17d to 10-17g,
inclusive: Sec. 10-17f. Duties of boards of education regarding bilingual education programs. Development of state English mastery standard. Regulations. (a) Annually,
the board of education for each local and regional school district shall ascertain, in
accordance with regulations adopted by the State Board of Education, the eligible students in such school district and shall classify such students according to their dominant
language. Sec. 10-17g. Application for grant. Annual evaluation report. Annually, the
board of education for each local and regional school district that is required to provide
a program of bilingual education, pursuant to section 10-17f, may make application to
the State Board of Education and shall thereafter receive a grant in an amount equal to
the product obtained by multiplying the total appropriation available for such purpose
by the ratio which the number of eligible children in the school district bears to the total
number of such eligible children state-wide. The board of education for each local and
regional school district receiving funds pursuant to this section shall annually, on or
before September first, submit to the State Board of Education a progress report which
shall include (1) measures of increased educational opportunities for eligible students,
including language support services and language transition support services provided
to such students, (2) program evaluation and measures of the effectiveness of its bilingual
education and English as a second language programs, including data on students in
bilingual education programs and students educated exclusively in English as a second
language programs, and (3) certification by the board of education submitting the report
that any funds received pursuant to this section have been used for the purposes specified.
The State Board of Education shall annually evaluate programs conducted pursuant to
section 10-17f. For purposes of this section, measures of the effectiveness of bilingual
education and English as a second language programs include state-wide mastery examination results and graduation and school dropout rates. Sec. 10-17h. Planning, development or operation of initially required bilingual program. Section 10-17h is repealed. Sec. 10-17i. Encouragement of increased language instruction. Proficiency in
language recognized on permanent record. (a) The Department of Education shall
assist and encourage local and regional boards of education to institute two-way language programs and provide early second language instruction for English-speaking
students. Sec. 10-17j. Request to commissioner to use certified English as a second language teacher in place of bilingual education teacher in cases of teacher shortage.
Teacher exchange programs. (a) If a local or regional board of education is not able
to hire a sufficient number of certified bilingual education teachers, the board of education may apply to the Commissioner of Education for permission to use a certified
teacher of English as a second language to fill its need and the commissioner may grant
such request for good cause shown. Sec. 10-18. Courses in United States history, government and duties and responsibilities of citizenship. (a) All high, preparatory, secondary and elementary
schools, public or private, whose property is exempt from taxation, shall provide a
program of United States history, including instruction in United States government at
the local, state and national levels, and in the duties, responsibilities, and rights of United
States citizenship. No student shall be graduated from any such school who has not been
found to be familiar with said subjects. Sec. 10-18a. Contents of textbooks and other general instructional materials.
Except where a legitimate educational purpose will otherwise be served, each local or
regional board of education shall, in selecting textbooks and other general instructional
materials select those which accurately present the achievements and accomplishments
of individuals and groups from all ethnic and racial backgrounds and of both sexes.
Nothing herein shall preclude the use of instructional material and teaching which emphasizes the traditional family structure. Sec. 10-18b. Development of curriculum guides for firearm safety programs.
The State Board of Education, within available appropriations, and the Connecticut
Police Chiefs Association may develop curriculum guides to aid local and regional
boards of education in developing firearm safety programs for students in grades kindergarten to eight, inclusive, in the public schools. The State Board of Education shall make
such curriculum guides available to local and regional boards of education. Sec. 10-18c. Firearm safety programs. Exemption from participation. (a) Any
local or regional board of education may offer firearm safety programs to students in
grades kindergarten to eight, inclusive, in the public schools under its jurisdiction. Sec. 10-19. Teaching about alcohol, nicotine or tobacco, drugs and acquired
immune deficiency syndrome. Training of personnel. (a) The knowledge, skills and
attitudes required to understand and avoid the effects of alcohol, of nicotine or tobacco
and of drugs, as defined in subdivision (17) of section 21a-240, on health, character,
citizenship and personality development shall be taught every academic year to pupils
in all grades in the public schools; and, in teaching such subjects, textbooks and such
other materials as are necessary shall be used. Annually, at such time and in such manner
as the Commissioner of Education shall request, each local and regional board of education shall attest to the State Board of Education that all pupils enrolled in its schools
have been taught such subjects pursuant to this subsection and in accordance with a
planned, ongoing and systematic program of instruction. The content and scheduling
of instruction shall be within the discretion of the local or regional board of education.
Institutions of higher education approved by the State Board of Education to train teachers shall give instruction on the subjects prescribed in this section and concerning the
best methods of teaching the same. The State Board of Education and the Board of
Governors of Higher Education in consultation with the Commissioner of Mental Health
and Addiction Services and the Commissioner of Public Health shall develop health
education or other programs for elementary and secondary schools and for the training
of teachers, administrators and guidance personnel with reference to understanding and
avoiding the effects of nicotine or tobacco, alcohol and drugs. Sec. 10-19a. Superintendent to designate substance abuse prevention team.
Training of team members. Section 10-19a is repealed, effective July 1, 1996. Sec. 10-19b. Advisory councils on drug abuse prevention. Advisory councils
on drug abuse education and prevention established by municipalities pursuant to subsection (a) of Section 4126 of the Drug Free Schools and Communities Act of 1986
may serve as a resource for public schools in the field of substance abuse prevention
and education and may assist in the development of out-of-school activity for students. Secs. 10-19c to 10-19l. Reserved for future use. Sec. 10-19m. (Formerly Sec. 17a-39). Youth service bureaus. Annual report.
Regulations. (a) For the purposes of this section, "youth" shall mean a person from
birth to eighteen years of age. Any one or more municipalities or any one or more private
youth serving organizations, designated to act as agents of one or more municipalities,
may establish a multipurpose youth service bureau for the purposes of evaluation, planning, coordination and implementation of services, including prevention and intervention programs for delinquent, predelinquent, pregnant, parenting and troubled youth
referred to such bureau by schools, police, juvenile courts, adult courts, local youth-
serving agencies, parents and self-referrals. A youth service bureau shall be the coordinating unit of community-based services to provide comprehensive delivery of prevention, intervention, treatment and follow-up services. Sec. 10-19n. (Formerly Sec. 17a-40). State aid for establishment and expansion of youth service bureaus. To assist municipalities and private youth-serving organizations designated to act as agents for such municipalities in establishing, maintaining
or expanding such youth service bureaus, the state, acting through the Commissioner
of Education, shall provide cost-sharing grants, subject to the provisions of this section
for (1) the cost of an administrative core unit and (2) the cost of the direct services
unit provided by such youth service bureau. No state grant shall be made for capital
expenditures of such bureaus. All youth service bureaus shall submit a request for a grant,
pursuant to this section and sections 10-19m and 10-19o, on or before May fifteenth of
the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year for which such grant is requested. Sec. 10-19o. (Formerly Sec. 17a-40a). Youth service bureau grant program.
(a) The Commissioner of Education shall establish a program to provide grants to youth
service bureaus in accordance with this section. Only youth service bureaus which were
eligible to receive grants pursuant to this section for the fiscal year ending June 30,
2000, or which applied for a grant by May 15, 2000, with prior approval of the town's
contribution pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, shall be eligible for a grant pursuant to this section for any fiscal year commencing on or after July 1, 2000. Each such
youth service bureau shall receive a grant of fourteen thousand dollars. The Department
of Education may expend an amount not to exceed two per cent of the amount appropriated for purposes of this section for administrative expenses. If there are any remaining funds, each such youth service bureau that was awarded a grant in excess of
fifteen thousand dollars in the fiscal year ending June 30, 1995, shall receive a percentage
of such funds. The percentage shall be determined as follows: For each such grant in
excess of fifteen thousand dollars, the difference between the amount of the grant
awarded to the youth service bureau for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1995, and fifteen
thousand dollars shall be divided by the difference between the total amount of the
grants awarded to all youth service bureaus that were awarded grants in excess of fifteen
thousand dollars for said fiscal year and the product of fifteen thousand dollars and the
number of such grants for said fiscal year. Sec. 10-19p. (Formerly Sec. 17a-41). Assistance to youth service bureaus. The
Department of Education shall provide grant management services, program monitoring, program evaluation and technical assistance to such state-aided youth service bureaus, and the commissioner may assign or appoint necessary personnel to perform such
duties, subject to the provisions of chapter 67. Sec. 10-20. Comptroller may withhold school money. Section 10-20 is repealed. Sec. 10-20a. Connecticut career certificate program. (a)(1) Local and regional
boards of education, the regional vocational-technical school system, postsecondary
institutions and regional educational service centers, may (A) in consultation with regional workforce development boards established pursuant to section 31-3k, local employers, labor organizations and community-based organizations establish programs
leading to a Connecticut career certificate in accordance with this section and (B) enroll
students in such programs based on entry criteria determined by the establishing agency.
Such programs shall be approved by the Commissioner of Education and the Labor
Commissioner after review and comment by the regional school-to-career partnership
established by the Commissioner of Education pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection for the region in which the program is proposed to operate. Applications for program
approval shall be submitted to the Commissioner of Education in such form and at such
time as he prescribes. All programs leading to a Connecticut career certificate shall
provide equal access for all students and necessary accommodations and support for
students with disabilities. Sec. 10-20b. Connecticut career certificate. Compliance with federal laws and
regulations, required. (a) Except for the provisions of chapter 567, all state and federal
laws and regulations relating to employment, apprenticeship and occupational licensing
shall apply to students in a program leading to a Connecticut career certificate pursuant
to section 10-20a. Employers found to be in violation of a federal or state labor law may
be prohibited from participation in the program. Sec. 10-20c. Issuance of Connecticut career certification. Credit for program.
(a) The Commissioner of Education and the Labor Commissioner shall jointly issue a
Connecticut career certificate to students who successfully complete a program established pursuant to section 10-20a and demonstrate satisfactory academic achievement
in accordance with such standards as may be adopted by the Commissioner of Education.
(1949 Rev., S. 1349; 1967, P.A. 288, S. 1; 1971, P.A. 370, S. 1; 442; 1972, P.A. 120, S. 1; P.A. 75-284; P.A. 77-614,
S. 302, 610; P.A. 78-218, S. 9; P.A. 80-241; P.A. 88-123; P.A. 98-243, S. 12, 25; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-1, S. 36, 51.)
History: 1967 act included kindergartens and changed usual minimum age for entrance from six to five; 1971 acts
rewrote provision concerning studies of alcohol and narcotics effects to include nicotine, tobacco and all controlled drugs
and their effect on citizenship and personality as well as on health and character and specified that rescheduled school
sessions may not be held on Saturday or Sunday; 1972 act added provision allowing full year use of facilities "which may
not offer each child one hundred eighty days of school sessions within a given school year" but which will average out as
one hundred eighty days per year over thirteen-year course of education; P.A. 75-284 forbade discrimination on grounds
of sex, religion or national origin and required equal participation opportunities for any child in any school activity, program
or course of study; P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of state board of education, effective
January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-218 deleted provisions dealing with age of students, discrimination and equal opportunity and
deleted detailed prescribed course of study; P.A. 80-241 added provisions concerning alternate scheduling of school sessions; P.A. 88-123 added Subdiv. designations and in Subdiv. (1) added "for a school district, a school or a portion of
school"; P.A. 98-243 added language to set different requirements for half and full-day kindergarten programs, effective
July 1, 1998; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-1 authorized public schools to conduct week-end education programs to provide
supplemental and remedial services to students, effective July 1, 1999 (Revisor's note: The phrase "... full-day kindergarten
and grades one to twelve, inclusive." at the end of the section was changed editorially by the Revisors to "... full-day
kindergartens and grades one to twelve, inclusive." for consistency).
What constitutes residence of a child for school purposes. 59 C. 491, 492. Discretion of board of education to prescribe
particular subjects is to be independently exercised. 127 C. 351. See note to chapter 106. Cited. 135 C. 582; 147 C. 374;
152 C. 151. Cited. 218 C. 1, 7. Cited. 238 C. 1.
Cited. 26 CS 123. Health instruction and physical education courses authorized, when. 29 CS 397. Plaintiff, eligible
for public schooling, has standing to bring action for declaratory judgment that the distribution of funds for public schools
do not meet constitutional standards. 31 CS 379.
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(February, 1965, P.A. 87; 1967, P.A. 288, S. 3.)
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(b) If any private or public school is served with a subpoena issued by competent
authority directing the production of school or student records in connection with any
proceedings in any court, the school upon which such subpoena is served may deliver
such record or at its option a copy thereof to the clerk of such court. Such clerk shall
give a receipt for the same, shall be responsible for the safekeeping thereof, shall not
permit the same to be removed from the premises of the court and shall notify the school
to call for the same when it is no longer needed for use in court. Any such record or copy
so delivered to such clerk shall be sealed in an envelope which shall indicate the name
of the school or student, the name of the attorney subpoenaing the same and the title of
the case referred to in the subpoena. No such record or copy shall be open to inspection
by any person except upon the order of a judge of the court concerned, and any such
record or copy shall at all times be subject to the order of such judge. Any and all parts
of any such record or copy, if not otherwise inadmissible, shall be admitted in evidence
without any preliminary testimony, if there is attached thereto the certification in affidavit form of the person in charge of such records indicating that such record or copy is
the original record or a copy thereof, made in the regular course of the business of the
school, and that it was the regular course of such business to make such record at the
time of the transactions, occurrences or events recorded therein or within a reasonable
time thereafter. A subpoena directing production of such school or student records shall
be served not less than eighteen hours before the time for production, provided such
subpoena shall be valid if served less than eighteen hours before the time of production
if written notice of intent to serve such subpoena has been delivered to the person in
charge of such records not less than eighteen hours nor more than two weeks before such
time for production.
(P.A. 73-74; P.A. 78-218, S. 12; P.A. 85-554, S. 4, 6; P.A. 86-223.)
History: P.A. 78-218 substituted "board of education" for "school board"; P.A. 85-554 added Subsec. (b) establishing
procedures for inspection and subpoena of school or student records; P.A. 86-223 required serving of subpoena at least
eighteen hours before time for production of records rather than twenty-four hours before as was previously required.
Cited. 211 C. 555, 579. Cited. 230 C. 43, 59.
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(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this section shall be deemed to amend other provisions of the general statutes with respect to curricula, facilities or extracurricular activities.
(P.A. 78-218, S. 10; P.A. 79-128, S. 12, 36; P.A. 80-405, S. 1, 4; P.A. 81-472, S. 10, 159; P.A. 88-360, S. 3, 63; P.A.
97-247, S. 6, 27.)
History: P.A. 79-128 required equal opportunity to participate in activities, programs and courses of study, deleting
former possible limitation of equal opportunity, i.e. "within the limits of existing expenditures in any one school year";
P.A. 80-405 required school authorities to advise children of opportunities available when they are eligible to participate;
P.A. 81-472 made technical changes; P.A. 88-360 substituted the provision that public schools be open to all children
"who reach age five on or before the first day of January of any school year" for the provision that boards of education
"may exclude children who will not attain the age of five years until after the first day of January of any school year"; P.A.
97-247 designated the existing section as Subsec. (a), added "sexual orientation" and added Subsec. (b), effective July
1, 1997.
Cited. 187 C. 187, 190. Cited. 195 C. 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 38. Cited. 238 C. 1.
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(P.A. 81-197; P.A. 83-169, S. 7; P.A. 87-499, S. 1, 34; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2.)
History: P.A. 83-169 changed name designations of special school districts, amending internal references accordingly;
P.A. 87-499 substituted 1987 for 1981, made the unified school districts eligible for competitive state aid and deleted the
reference to the E.O. Smith School; incorrect internal reference to "section 17a-38" corrected editorially to "section 17a-
37" in 1993; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department
of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993.
Cited. 45 CS 57.
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(P.A. 83-219, S. 1, 4.)
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(1949 Rev., S. 1350; 1961, P.A. 86; 1967, P.A. 186, S. 1; P.A. 77-262; P.A. 79-128, S. 4, 36; P.A. 81-78, S. 1, 2; P.A.
82-106, S. 1, 2; P.A. 85-37, S. 1, 2; P.A. 96-161, S. 1, 13; P.A. 98-243, S. 13, 25.)
History: 1961 act added provisions for computing half a school day and for dismissal because of weather conditions,
and changed the technical language; 1967 act included nursery schools in provision for two and one-half hour school day;
P.A. 77-262 established two hour session as school day when nursery school or kindergarten dismissed early because of
weather conditions or scheduled early closing; P.A. 79-128 deleted qualifying phrase "For the purpose of apportionment"
with regard to determination of school days; P.A. 81-78 required that beginning with the fiscal year ending June 30, 1983,
each school district shall provide no less than four hundred fifty hours of actual school work for nursery schools and
kindergartens and no less than nine hundred hours of actual school work for grades one to twelve; P.A. 82-106 repealed
requirement that no less than four hundred fifty hours of actual school work be provided for nursery school and kindergarten
students; P.A. 85-37 amended section to require one hundred eighty days of actual school sessions and to allow school
districts to count up to seven hours per school day towards the required yearly number of hours; P.A. 96-161 removed
requirements for the length of the school day, added requirement for no less than four hundred fifty hours of kindergarten
for a school year and added provision allowing school districts which maintain separate kindergarten sessions to provide
either a morning or afternoon session if weather conditions result in an early dismissal or delayed opening of school,
effective June 3, 1996; P.A. 98-243 added language to set different requirements for half and full-day kindergarten programs,
effective July 1, 1998.
Cited. 152 C. 151. Cited. 187 C. 187, 190. Cited. 195 C. 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 38. Cited. 238 C. 1.
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(P.A. 75-367, S. 2; P.A. 78-218, S. 13.)
History: P.A. 78-218 substituted "Each local or regional board of education" for "The board of education of each town
and of each regional school district".
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(b) If a local or regional board of education requires its pupils to take a course in a
foreign language, the parent or guardian of a pupil identified as deaf or hearing impaired
may request in writing that such pupil be exempted from such requirement and, if such
a request is made, such pupil shall be exempt from such requirement.
(c) Each local and regional board of education shall on September 1, 1982, and
annually thereafter at such time and in such manner as the Commissioner of Education
shall request, attest to the State Board of Education that such local or regional board of
education offers at least the program of instruction required pursuant to this section,
and that such program of instruction is planned, ongoing and systematic.
(d) The State Board of Education shall make available curriculum materials and
such other materials as may assist local and regional boards of education in developing
instructional programs pursuant to this section. The State Board of Education, within
available appropriations and utilizing available resource materials, shall assist and encourage local and regional boards of education to include: (1) Holocaust education and
awareness; (2) the historical events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (3) African-
American history; (4) Puerto Rican history; (5) Native American history; (6) personal
financial management; and (7) topics approved by the state board upon the request of
local or regional boards of education as part of the program of instruction offered pursuant to subsection (a) of this section.
(P.A. 78-218, S. 11; 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 79-128, S. 13, 36; P.A. 80-166, S. 2; P.A. 89-133, S. 1, 2; 89-185, S. 1,
2; P.A. 93-416, S. 6, 10; P.A. 95-101, S. 1; P.A. 97-45, S. 1; 97-61, S. 1.)
History: P.A. 78-303 allowed substitution of commissioner of education for secretary of state board of education in
accordance with P.A. 77-614, S. 302, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-128 replaced specific subject listings with more
general subject matter areas and added Subsecs. (b) and (c); P.A. 80-166 changed initial date in Subsec. (b) from "in 1981"
to "on September 1, 1982"; P.A. 89-133 in Subsec. (a) added provision that language arts may include certain sign languages,
added new Subsec. (b) providing an exemption from foreign language requirements for deaf or hearing impaired pupils
and relettered Subsecs. (b) and (c) as Subsecs. (c) and (d); P.A. 89-185 in Subsec. (a) added the subjects which health and
safety education shall include but not be limited to; P.A. 93-416 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that "safety" may include
the dangers of gang membership, effective June 29, 1993; P.A. 95-101 added provision concerning Holocaust education
and awareness in Subsec. (d); P.A. 97-45 amended Subsec. (d) to add provision concerning the Great Famine in Ireland;
P.A. 97-61 amended Subsec. (d) to expand the list of topics for programs of instruction to include African-American
History, Puerto-Rican History, Native American History, personal financial management and topics approved by the State
Board of Education at the request of local or regional boards of education.
See Sec. 10-19 re courses concerning effects of alcohol, nicotine or tobacco and drugs.
See Sec. 10-221a re high school graduation requirements.
See Sec. 29-7n(a) re definition of "gang".
Cited. 187 C. 187, 190. Cited. 195 C. 24, 26, 27, 29, 31, 34, 35, 38. Cited. 238 C. 1.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 195 C. 24, 33, 41, 42.
Cited. 44 CA 179.
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(P.A. 79-463, S. 1.)
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(P.A. 79-463, S. 2.)
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(P.A. 79-463, S. 3.)
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(P.A. 79-463, S. 4.)
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(P.A. 85-487, S. 1−6; P.A. 86-333, S. 21, 22, 32; P.A. 88-136, S. 36, 37.)
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(P.A. 87-270, S. 3, 4; P.A. 88-360, S. 54, 63; P.A. 93-353, S. 50, 52; P.A. 96-108, S. 2, 3.)
History: P.A. 88-360 substituted "each grade participating in graduation exercises" for "grades kindergarten to twelve,
inclusive," and "grades one to twelve, inclusive,"; P.A. 93-353 deleted the existing provisions and substituted new provisions concerning the date of graduation exercises, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 96-108 added exception for the establishment
of graduation dates after April first in any school year, effective April 30, 1996.
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(P.A. 87-357, S. 1, 2; P.A. 88-360, S. 45, 63; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 91-7, S. 21, 22.)
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(b) The Department of Education shall annually allocate to each town in which the
number of children under the aid to dependent children program, as defined in subdivision (14) of section 10-262f, equals or exceeds nine hundred children, determined for
the fiscal year ending June 30, 1996, an amount equal to one hundred fifty thousand
dollars plus eight and one-half dollars for each child under the aid to dependent children
program, provided such amount may be reduced proportionately so that the total amount
awarded pursuant to this subsection does not exceed two million seven hundred thousand
dollars. The department shall award grants to the local and regional boards of education
for such towns and nonprofit agencies located in such towns which meet the criteria
established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section to maintain the programs established or expanded with funds provided pursuant to this subsection in the fiscal years
ending June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1997. Any funds remaining in the allocation to such
a town after grants are so awarded shall be used to increase allocations to other such
towns. Any funds remaining after grants are so awarded to boards of education and
nonprofit agencies in all such towns shall be available to local and regional boards of
education and nonprofit agencies in other towns in the state for grants for such purposes.
(c) There is established a committee to advise the Commissioner of Education concerning the coordination, priorities for allocation and distribution, and utilization of
funds for Head Start and concerning the competitive grant program established under
this section, and to evaluate programs funded pursuant to this section. The committee
shall consist of twelve members as follows: One member designated by the Commissioner of Social Services; six members who are directors of Head Start programs, two
from community action agency program sites or school readiness coordinators, one of
whom shall be appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and one by the
speaker of the House of Representatives, two from school program sites, one of whom
shall be appointed by the majority leader of the Senate and one by the majority leader
of the House of Representatives, and two from other nonprofit agency program sites,
one of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the Senate and one by the
minority leader of the House of Representatives; one member designated by the Commission on Children; one member designated by the Early Childhood Education Council; one member designated by the Head Start Directors Association who shall be the
parent of a present or former Head Start student; one member designated by the Connecticut Association for Community Action who shall have expertise and experience concerning Head Start; and one member designated by the Office of Human Development
Services, Office of Community Programs, Region 1 of the federal Department of Health
and Human Services.
(d) The Commissioner of Education may adopt regulations, in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 54, for purposes of this section.
(P.A. 91-269, S. 1, 2; P.A. 92-222, S. 1, 3; P.A. 93-262, S. 33, 87; P.A. 95-266, S. 3, 5; P.A. 97-247, S. 7, 27; June Sp.
Sess. P.A. 00-1, S. 32, 46.)
History: P.A. 92-222 transferred the program from the department of human resources to the department of education,
added Subdivs. (2) and (3) in Subsec. (a), required twenty-five per cent of the funding for grants to be used to enhance
program quality, changed the applicable date in Subsec. (a) from June 25, 1991, to July 1, 1992, and increased the membership of the advisory committee from eleven to thirteen by adding a member designated by the commission on children
and a member designated by the Connecticut Association for Community Action; P.A. 93-262 replaced references to
commissioner of income maintenance and commissioner of human resources with references to commissioner of social
services, effectively reducing committee membership from thirteen to twelve members, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-
266 inserted new Subsec. (b) re allocation for fiscal years ending June 30, 1996, and June 30, 1997, relettering former
Subsecs. (b) and (c) as (c) and (d), effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-247 made a technical change in Subsec. (a) and in Subsec.
(b) provided for annual grants, provided for proportional reductions so that the total amount of grants does not exceed two
million seven hundred thousand dollars, and changed the provision dealing with how grant funds are to be used, effective
July 1, 1997; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 00-1 amended Subsec. (c) to expand committee membership to include school readiness
coordinators, effective June 21, 2000.
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(1) Provide open access for children to quality programs that promote the health
and safety of children and prepare them for formal schooling;
(2) Provide opportunities for parents to choose among affordable and accredited or
approved programs;
(3) Encourage coordination and cooperation among programs and prevent the duplication of services;
(4) Recognize the specific service needs and unique resources available to particular
municipalities and provide flexibility in the implementation of programs;
(5) Prevent or minimize the potential for developmental delay in children prior to
children reaching the age of five;
(6) Enhance federally funded school readiness programs;
(7) Strengthen the family through: (A) Encouragement of parental involvement in
a child's development and education; and (B) enhancement of a family's capacity to
meet the special needs of the children, including children with disabilities;
(8) Reduce educational costs by decreasing the need for special education services
for school age children and to avoid grade repetition;
(9) Assure that children with disabilities are integrated into programs available to
children who are not disabled; and
(10) Improve the availability and quality of school readiness programs.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 1, 41; P.A. 00-187, S. 10, 75.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 00-187 added reference to Sec. 10-16u, effective July 1, 2000.
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(1) "School readiness program" means a nonsectarian program that (A) meets the
standards set by the department pursuant to subsection (b) of this section and the requirements of section 10-16q, and (B) provides a developmentally appropriate learning experience of not less than four hundred fifty hours and one hundred eighty days for eligible
children, provided, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 1998, and June 30, 1999, the
commissioner may approve programs that provide learning experiences which are for
less than said hours and days;
(2) "Eligible children" means children three and four years of age and children five
years of age who are not eligible to enroll in school pursuant to section 10-15c, or who
are eligible to enroll in school and will attend a school readiness program pursuant to
section 10-16t;
(3) "Priority school" means a school in which forty per cent or more of the lunches
served are served to students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches pursuant
to federal law and regulations, excluding such a school located in a priority school
district pursuant to section 10-266p or in a former priority school district receiving a
grant pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and, on and after July 1, 2001, excluding
such a school in a transitional school district receiving a grant pursuant to section 10-16u;
(4) "Severe need school" means a school in a priority school district pursuant to
section 10-266p or in a former priority school district in which forty per cent or more
of the lunches served are served to students who are eligible for free or reduced price
lunches;
(5) "Accredited" means accredited by the National Association for the Education
of Young Children, a Head Start on-site program review instrument or a successor
instrument pursuant to federal regulations, or otherwise meeting such criteria as may
be established by the commissioner, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social
Services;
(6) "Approved" means meeting the criteria established by the commissioner, in
consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services;
(7) "Year-round" means fifty weeks per year;
(8) "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Education; and
(9) "Department" means the Department of Education.
(b) The Department of Education shall be the lead agency for school readiness. For
purposes of this section and section 10-16u, school readiness program providers eligible
for funding from the Department of Education shall include local and regional boards
of education, regional educational service centers, family resource centers and providers
of child day care centers, as defined in section 19a-77, Head Start programs, preschool
programs and other programs that meet such standards established by the Commissioner
of Education. The department shall establish standards for school readiness programs.
The standards may include, but need not be limited to, guidelines for staff-child interactions, curriculum content, lesson plans, parent involvement, staff qualifications and
training, and administration. The department shall develop age-appropriate developmental skills and goals for children attending such programs. The commissioner, in
consultation with the Commissioners of Higher Education and Social Services and other
appropriate entities, shall develop a continuing education training program for the staff
of school readiness programs. For purposes of this section, on and after July 1, 2003,
"staff qualifications" means there is in each classroom an individual who has at least
the following: (1) A credential issued by an organization approved by the Commissioner
of Education and nine credits or more in early childhood education or child development
from an institution of higher education accredited by the Board of Governors of Higher
Education or regionally accredited; (2) an associate's degree in early childhood education or child development from such an institution; or (3) a four-year degree in early
childhood education or child development from such an institution.
(c) The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services, shall establish a grant program to provide spaces in accredited or approved
school readiness programs for eligible children who reside in priority school districts
pursuant to section 10-266p or in former priority school districts as provided in this
subsection. Under the program, the grant shall be provided, in accordance with this
section, to the town in which such priority school district or former priority school
district is located. Eligibility shall be determined for a five-year period based on an
applicant's designation as a priority school district for the initial year of application,
except that if a school district that receives a grant pursuant to this subsection is no
longer designated as a priority school district at the end of such five-year period, such
former priority school district shall continue to be eligible to receive a grant pursuant
to this subsection. Grant awards shall be made annually contingent upon available funding and a satisfactory annual evaluation. The chief elected official of such town and the
superintendent of schools for such priority school district or former priority school district shall submit a plan for the expenditure of grant funds and responses to the local
request for proposal process to the Departments of Education and Social Services. The
departments shall jointly review such plans and shall each approve the portion of such
plan within its jurisdiction for funding. The plan shall: (1) Be developed in consultation
with the local school readiness council established pursuant to section 10-16r; (2) be
based on a needs and resource assessment; (3) provide for the issuance of requests for
proposals for providers of accredited or approved school readiness programs, provided,
after the initial requests for proposals, facilities that have been approved to operate a
child care program financed through the Connecticut Health and Education Facilities
Authority and have received a commitment for debt service from the Department of
Social Services pursuant to section 17b-749i, are exempt from the requirement for issuance of annual requests for proposals; and (4) identify the need for funding pursuant to
section 17b-749a in order to extend the hours and days of operation of school readiness
programs in order to provide child day care services for children attending such programs.
(d) The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the Commissioner of Social Services, shall establish a competitive grant program to provide spaces in accredited
or approved school readiness programs for eligible children who reside in an area served
by a priority school. A town in which such a school is located or a regional school
readiness council, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-16r, for a region in which
such a school is located may apply for such a grant in an amount not to exceed one
hundred thousand dollars per priority school. Eligibility shall be determined for a five-
year period based on an applicant's designation as having a priority school for the initial
year of application. Grant awards shall be made annually contingent upon available
funding and a satisfactory annual evaluation. The chief elected official of such town
and the superintendent of schools of the school district or the regional school readiness
council shall submit a plan, as described in subsection (c) of this section, for the expenditure of such grant funds to the Department of Education. In awarding grants pursuant
to this subsection, the commissioner shall give preference to applications submitted by
regional school readiness councils and may, within available appropriations, provide a
grant in excess of one hundred thousand dollars to towns with two or more priority
schools in such district. A town or regional school readiness council awarded a grant
pursuant to this subsection shall use the funds to purchase spaces for such children from
providers of accredited or approved school readiness programs.
(e) (1) Ninety-three per cent of the amount appropriated for purposes of this section
shall be used for the grant program pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. Priority
school districts and former priority school districts shall receive grants based on their
proportional share of the sum of the products obtained by multiplying the average number of enrolled kindergarten students in each priority school district and in each former
priority school district for the three years prior to the year the grant is to be paid, by the
ratio of the average percentage of free and reduced price meals for all severe need schools
in such district to the minimum percentage requirement for severe need school eligibility,
provided no such school district shall receive a grant that is less than the grant it received
for the prior fiscal year.
(2) Six and five-tenths per cent of the amount appropriated for purposes of this
section shall be used for the competitive grant program pursuant to subsection (d) of
this section.
(3) The Department of Education may retain up to five-tenths of one per cent of
the amount appropriated for purposes of this section for coordination, program evaluation and administration.
(4) If a town that is eligible for a grant pursuant to subsection (c) of this section does
not submit, by January first, a plan which is subsequently approved for the expenditure of
the entire amount of funds for which such town is eligible, the department may use up
to ten per cent of any amounts such town has not earmarked for expenditure to provide
supplemental grants to other towns that are eligible for grants pursuant to subsection
(c) of this section.
(f) Any school readiness program that receives funds pursuant to this section or
section 10-16u shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender,
religion or disability. For purposes of this section, a nonsectarian program means any
public or private school readiness program that is not violative of the Establishment
Clause of the Constitution of the State of Connecticut or the Establishment Clause of
the Constitution of the United States of America.
(g) Subject to the provisions of this subsection, no funds received by a town pursuant
to subsection (c) or (d) of this section or section 10-16u shall be used to supplant federal,
state or local funding received by such town for early childhood education, provided
(1) a town may use up to five per cent but no more than fifty thousand dollars of the
amount received pursuant to subsection (c) or (d) of this section or section 10-16u for
coordination, program evaluation and administration, and (2) if a town provides twenty-
five thousand dollars in local funding for early childhood education coordination, program evaluation and administration, such town may use up to ten per cent but no more
than seventy-five thousand dollars of such amount for coordination, program evaluation
and administration. Each town that receives a grant pursuant to said subsection (c) or
(d) or section 10-16u shall designate a person to be responsible for such coordination,
program evaluation and administration and to act as a liaison between the town and the
Departments of Education and Social Services. Each school readiness program that
receives funds pursuant to this section or section 10-16u shall provide information to the
department or the school readiness council, as requested, that is necessary for purposes of
any school readiness program evaluation.
(h) For the fiscal years ending June 30, 1998, June 30, 1999, June 30, 2000, and
June 30, 2001, grants pursuant to this section may be used, with the approval of the
commissioner, to prepare a facility or staff for operating a school readiness program
and shall be adjusted based on the number of days of operation of a school readiness
program if a shorter term of operation is approved by the commissioner.
(i) A town may use grant funds to purchase spaces for eligible children who reside
in such town at an accredited or approved school readiness program located in another
town. A regional school readiness council may use grant funds to purchase spaces for
eligible children who reside in the region covered by the council at an accredited or
approved school readiness program located outside such region.
(j) Children enrolled in school readiness programs funded pursuant to this section
shall not be counted as resident students for purposes of subdivision (22) of section
10-262f.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 2, 41; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-11, S. 25, 65; P.A. 98-239, S. 30, 35; 98-252, S. 32, 80; P.A. 99-230,
S. 1, 10; P.A. 00-187, S. 4, 75.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; June 18 Sp. Sess. P.A. 97-11 amended Subsec. (a) to make a technical
change in Subdiv. (3), to new Subdiv. (4) defining "severe need school" and to redesignate former Subdivs. (4) to (7) as
Subdivs. (5) to (8), effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-239 amended Subdiv. (3) of Subsec. (c) to provide that, after the initial
requests for proposals, facilities approved to operate a child care program financed through CHEFA and which have
received a commitment for debt service pursuant to Sec. 17b-749i are exempt from the requirement for issuance of annual
requests for proposals, effective June 8, 1998, and applicable to all grants submitted on and after July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-
252 amended Subdiv. (1) of Subsec. (a) to allow the commissioner to approve programs for the fiscal years ending June
30, 1998, and June 30, 1999, that are for less hours and days, amended Subsecs. (c) and (d) to make technical changes,
amended Subdiv. (3) of Subsec. (e) to remove cap of one hundred twenty thousand dollars per fiscal year, amended Subsec.
(g) to allow a town to use up to five per cent but no more than fifty thousand dollars for coordination, program evaluation
and administration, and added new Subsec. (h) re use of grants in certain years to prepare a facility or staff for operating
a program, effective June 8, 1998; P.A. 99-230 amended Subsec. (a)(2) to add children attending pursuant to Sec. 10-16t,
to renumber existing Subsec. (a)(7) and (8) as Subsec. (a)(8) and (9) and to add new Subsec. (a)(7) defining "year-round",
amended Subsec. (e) to change the percentages in Subdivs. (1) to (3), inclusive, and to add Subdiv. (4) re use of a percentage
of grant funds not earmarked by town for expenditure, and amended Subsec.(g) to add Subdiv. (2) re authorization to use
increased amount of grant funds for coordination, program evaluation and administration for towns that provide twenty-
five thousand dollars in local funding for such purposes, to require towns that receive grants to designate a person to be
responsible for coordination, program evaluation and administration and to act as a liaison between the town and the
departments, and to require programs to provide information for evaluation purposes, and added Subsecs. (i) re purchase
of spaces in program in another town or region and (j) re children not counted as resident students for purposes of Sec.
10-262f, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-187 added provisions re transitional school districts and former priority school
districts, amended Subsec. (b) to specify the standards for staff qualifications on and after July 1, 2003, amended Subsec.
(d) to allow the awarding of grants in excess of one hundred thousand dollars to towns with one or more priority schools,
amended Subsec. (e) to base grants on the "average" number of enrolled kindergarten students in a priority school district
for the "three years" prior to the year the grant is to be paid rather than on the number of such students for the prior year
and to provide that no such district receives a grant that is less than the grant it received for the prior fiscal year, and
amended Subsec. (h) to extend the provision to the fiscal year ending June 30, 2001, and add requirement for the commissioner's approval, effective July 1, 2000.
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(b) The per child cost of the Department of Education school readiness component
of the program offered by a school readiness provider shall not exceed the foundation,
as defined in subdivision (9) of section 10-262f. A school readiness provider may provide child day care services and the cost of such child day care services shall not be
subject to such per child cost limitation.
(c) A local or regional board of education may implement a sliding fee scale for
the cost of services provided to children enrolled in a school readiness program.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 3, 41; P.A. 98-243, S. 11, 25; P.A. 99-230, S. 2, 10.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-243 amended Subsec. (a) to add "public libraries" in Subdiv. (1)
and provision for the transfer of records in Subdiv. (7), effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-230 amended Subsec. (a) to make
the existing Subdiv. (3) Subpara. (B) and to add Subpara. (A) re record-keeping policies, and to require the use of assessment
measures developed pursuant to section 10-16s for annual evaluations, effective July 1, 1999.
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(b) The local school readiness council shall: (1) Make recommendations to the chief
elected official and the superintendent of schools on issues relating to school readiness,
including any applications for grants pursuant to sections 10-16p, 10-16u, 17b-749a
and 17b-749c; (2) foster partnerships among providers of school readiness programs;
(3) assist in the identification of the need for school readiness programs and the number
of children not being served by such a program; (4) submit biannual reports to the
Department of Education on the number and location of school readiness spaces and
estimates of future needs; (5) cooperate with the department in any program evaluation
and, on and after July 1, 2000, use measures developed pursuant to section 10-16s for
purposes of evaluating the effectiveness of school readiness programs; (6) identify existing and prospective resources and services available to children and families; (7)
facilitate the coordination of the delivery of services to children and families, including
(A) referral procedures, and (B) before and after-school child care for children attending
kindergarten programs; (8) exchange information with other councils, the community
and organizations serving the needs of children and families; (9) make recommendations
to school officials concerning transition from school readiness programs to kindergarten;
and (10) encourage public participation.
(c) Two or more towns or school districts and appropriate representatives of groups
or entities interested in early childhood education in a region may establish a regional
school readiness council. If a priority school is located in at least one of such school
districts, the regional school readiness council may apply for a grant pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-16p. The regional school readiness council may perform the duties
outlined in subdivisions (2) to (10), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 4, 41; P.A. 98-243, S. 10, 25; P.A. 99-230, S. 3, 10; P.A. 00-187, S. 11, 75.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-243 amended Subdiv. (5) of Subsec. (b) to add Subpara. (B) re
before and after-school child care, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-230 amended Subsec. (b) to add new Subdiv. (4) re
biannual reports and new Subdiv. (5) re evaluations, and renumbered the existing Subdivs. (4) to (8), inclusive, as Subdivs.
(6) to (10), inclusive, and amended Subsec. (c) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-187 amended
Subsecs. (a) and (b) to add references to Sec. 10-16u and to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2000.
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(b) On or before January 1, 2000, the commissioners shall adopt assessment measures for use by school readiness programs in conducting their annual evaluations pursuant to section 10-16q. The commissioners may adopt the assessment measures used for
Head Start programs.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 6, 41; P.A. 99-230, S. 4, 10.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 99-230 designated existing Sec. as Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (b)
re assessment measures, effective July 1, 1999.
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(P.A. 99-230, S. 9, 10.)
History: P.A. 99-230 effective July 1, 1999.
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(P.A. 00-187, S. 9, 75.)
History: P.A. 00-187 effective July 1, 2000.
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(1949 Rev., S. 1351; 1971, P.A. 432, S. 1; P.A. 77-588, S. 4, 7.)
History: 1971 act deleted restriction limiting foreign language study to one hour a day, added provision allowing
bilingual education and deleted penalty provision for violation of former section; P.A. 77-588 substituted reference to Sec.
10-17f for Sec. 10-17b.
Cited. 152 C. 151. Cited. 226 C. 704, 729.
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(1971, P.A. 432, S. 2; P.A. 78-218, S. 14.)
History: P.A. 78-218 specified "local or regional" boards of education.
Cited. 226 C. 704, 729. Cited. 238 C. 1.
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(1971, P.A. 432, S. 3, 4, 6; P.A. 73-317; P.A. 78-218, S. 15, 16; P.A. 82-314, S. 47, 63; P.A. 84-255, S. 20, 21.)
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(1971, P.A. 432, S. 5; P.A. 77-588, S. 5, 7; P.A. 78-218, S. 17; P.A. 84-255, S. 5, 21.)
History: P.A. 77-588 substituted "10-17c" for "10-17d" and added reference to Sec. 10-17f; P.A. 78-218 substituted
"local or regional board of education" for "board of education of a school district"; P.A. 84-255 deleted reference to Secs.
10-17b and 10-17c, repealed in the act.
Cited. 226 C. 704, 729.
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(1) "Eligible students" means students enrolled in public schools in grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, whose dominant language is other than English and whose
proficiency in English is not sufficient to assure equal educational opportunity in the
regular school program;
(2) "Program of bilingual education" means a program that: (A) Makes instructional
use of both English and an eligible student's native language; (B) enables eligible students to achieve English proficiency and academic mastery of subject matter content
and higher order skills, including critical thinking, so as to meet appropriate grade promotion and graduation requirements; (C) provides for the continuous increase in the
use of English and corresponding decrease in the use of the native language for the
purpose of instruction within each year and from year to year and provides for the use
of English for more than half of the instructional time by the end of the first year; (D)
may develop the native language skills of eligible students; and (E) may include the
participation of English-proficient students if the program is designed to enable all enrolled students to become more proficient in English and a second language.
(3) "English as a second language program" means a program that uses only English
as the instructional language for eligible students and enables such students to achieve
English proficiency and academic mastery of subject matter content and higher order
skills, including critical thinking, so as to meet appropriate grade promotion and graduation requirements.
(P.A. 77-588, S. 1, 7; P.A. 85-613, S. 91, 154; P.A. 99-211, S. 1, 10.)
History: P.A. 85-613 made technical change, substituting reference to Sec. 10-17g for reference to Sec. 10-17h; P.A.
99-211 deleted the existing definition of program of bilingual education and substituted a new definition and added the
definition of English as a second language program, effective July 1, 1999.
Cited. 226 C. 704, 729.
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(b) Whenever it is ascertained that there are in any public school within a local or
regional school district twenty or more eligible students classified as dominant in any
one language other than English, the board of education of such district shall provide a
program of bilingual education for such eligible students for the school year next following. Eligible students shall be placed in such program in accordance with subsection (e)
of this section.
(c) On or before July 1, 2000, the State Board of Education, within available appropriations, shall develop a state English mastery standard to assess the linguistic and
academic progress of students in programs of bilingual education. On and after September 1, 2000, each local and regional board of education shall assess, annually, the progress made by each student toward meeting the state standard. If a student is not making
sufficient progress toward meeting the state standard based on the assessment, the local
or regional board of education shall provide language support services to the student in
consultation with the parent or guardian of the student to allow the student to meet the
state standard. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, summer school,
after-school assistance and tutoring. If a student meets the state standard based on the
assessment, the student shall leave the program. Each local and regional board of education shall document on a student's permanent record the date the student begins in a
program of bilingual education and the date and results of the assessments required
pursuant to this subsection.
(d) Each local and regional board of education shall limit the time an eligible student
spends in a program of bilingual education to thirty months, whether or not such months
are consecutive, except that summer school and two-way language programs pursuant
to subsection (i) of this section shall not be counted. If an eligible student does not meet
the English mastery standard at the end of thirty months, the local or regional board of
education shall provide language transition support services to such student. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, English as a second language programs,
sheltered English programs, English immersion programs, tutoring and homework assistance. Families may also receive guidance from school professionals to help their
children make progress in their native language. If an eligible student enrolls in a secondary school when the student has fewer than thirty months remaining before graduation,
the local or regional board of education shall assign the student to an English as a second
language program and may provide intensive services to the student to enable the student
to speak, write and comprehend English by the time the student graduates and to meet
the course requirements for graduation.
(e) Each local and regional board of education shall hold a meeting with the parents
and legal guardians of eligible students to explain the benefits of the language program
options available in the school district, including an English language immersion program. The parents and legal guardians may bring an interpreter or an advisor to the
meeting. If the parent or legal guardian of an eligible student opts to have such student
placed in a program of bilingual education, the local or regional board of education
shall place the child in such program.
(f) The board of education for each local and regional school district which is required to provide a program of bilingual education shall initially endeavor to implement
the provisions of subsection (b) of this section through in-service training for existing
certified professional employees, and thereafter, shall give preference in hiring to such
certified professional employees as are required to maintain the program.
(g) The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 54, to establish requirements for: (1) Such programs, which may be
modeled after policy established by the Department of Education for bilingual education
programs; (2) local and regional boards of education to integrate bilingual and English
as a second language program faculty in all staff, planning and curriculum development
activities; and (3) all bilingual education teachers employed by a local or regional board
of education, on and after July 1, 2001, to meet all certification requirements, including
completion of a teacher preparation program approved by the State Board of Education,
or to be certified through an alternate route to certification program.
(h) Each board of education for a local and regional school district which is required
to provide for the first time a program of bilingual education shall prepare and submit
to the Commissioner of Education for review a plan to implement such program, in
accordance with regulations adopted by the State Board of Education.
(i) Each local and regional board of education that is required to provide a program
of bilingual education pursuant to this section shall investigate the feasibility of establishing two-way language programs starting in kindergarten.
(P.A. 77-588, S. 2, 7; 77-614, S. 302, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 98-168, S. 18, 26; P.A. 99-211, S. 2, 10;
P.A. 00-220, S. 3, 43.)
History: P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of the state board of education,
effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 98-168 added new Subsec. (c) re parental notification for program exemption and redesignated the remaining Subsecs., effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-211 deleted the existing Subsec. (c) and substituted a new
Subsec. (c) re development of state English mastery standard, student assessment based on the standard and provision of
support services for students not meeting the standard, relettered the existing Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (f) and added new
Subsec. (d) re thirty-month limitation on time spent in a bilingual education program and language transition support
services for students not meeting English mastery standard, relettered the existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (g), added new
Subsec. (e) re meeting to explain language program options, amended Subsec. (g) to add Subdivs. (2) re integration of
program staff and (3) re certification requirements, relettered the existing Subsec. (f) as Subsec. (h), added Subsec. (i) re
investigation of feasibility of establishing two-way language programs and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1999;
P.A. 00-220 amended Subsec. (a) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 2000.
Cited. 226 C. 704, 729.
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(P.A. 77-588, S. 3, 7; P.A. 84-255, S. 4, 21; P.A. 99-211, S. 8, 10; P.A. 00-220, S. 4, 43.)
History: P.A. 84-255 changed the date of the report to the state board from July to September first and required the
state board to evaluate the programs annually rather than biennially; P.A. 99-211 in Subdiv. (1) added references to language
support services and language transition support services, in Subdiv. (2) added measures of effectiveness of bilingual
education and English as a second language programs, added language specifying some measures that are effectiveness
measures for purposes of the section and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-220 made a technical
change, effective July 1, 2000.
Cited. 226 C. 704, 729.
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(P.A. 77-588, S. 6, 7; P. A. 79-631, S. 109, 111.)
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(b) The department shall encourage local and regional boards of education to recognize students' proficiency in languages other than their native languages on their permanent records.
(P.A. 99-211, S. 3, 10.)
History: P.A. 99-211 effective July 1, 1999.
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(b) The Department of Education shall promote and encourage teacher exchange
programs and provide information to local and regional boards of education on such
programs in order to increase foreign language proficiency and cultural understanding.
(P.A. 99-211, S. 6, 10.)
History: P.A. 99-211 effective July 1, 1999.
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(b) The State Board of Education shall, upon request by a board of education, make
samples of materials available for use in the schools required to teach the courses provided for in this section, with supplementary materials for such use.
(1949 Rev., S. 1352−1357; 1959, P.A. 411, S. 2, 3; 1971, P.A. 758; P.A. 77-614, S. 302, 587, 610; P.A. 78-218, S. 18;
78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 82-83, S. 1, 3; P.A. 84-255, S. 19, 21.)
History: 1959 act changed references in Subsecs. (a) and (f) from state teachers colleges to state colleges; 1971 act
deleted state colleges from requirement for citizenship course, deleted former detailed provisions in former Subsecs. (b),
(c), (f) and part of (d), replacing them with general requirement for program of study of U.S. history and government and
citizenship for "high, preparatory, secondary and elementary schools"; P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of the state board of education, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 78-218 substituted "Each
local or regional board of education" for "The board of education of each school district"; P.A. 82-83 deleted Subsec. (c)
which had required filing of course descriptions of United States history, government and citizenship with the commissioner
of education; P.A. 84-255 added provision to clarify that instruction in United States government is to include instruction
in local, state and national government.
Cited. 152 C. 151. Cited. 238 C. 1.
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(1967, P.A. 571, S. 1; 1969, P.A. 241; P.A. 78-218, S. 19; P.A. 80-405, S. 2, 4.)
History: 1969 act required use of textbooks which present achievements of all ethnic and racial groups, a stronger
statement than the previous requirement that boards of education "give due consideration to the use" of such books; P.A.
78-218 substituted "local" for "town" board of education; P.A. 80-405 allowed use of books which may be biased for or
against ethnic groups only "where a legitimate educational purpose will otherwise be served", added reference to other
instructional materials and required presentation of achievements of both sexes but did not "preclude the use of instructional
material and teaching which emphasizes the traditional family structure".
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(P.A. 90-144, S. 4, 6.)
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(b) No student shall be required by any local or regional board of education to
participate in a firearm safety program which may be offered within the public schools.
A written notification to the local or regional board by the student's parent or legal
guardian shall be sufficient to exempt the student from such program in its entirety or
from any portion thereof so specified by the parent or legal guardian.
(c) If a student is exempted from a firearm safety program pursuant to subsection
(b) of this section, the local or regional board of education shall provide, during the
period of time in which the student would otherwise be participating in such program,
an opportunity for other study or academic work.
(P.A. 90-144, S. 5, 6.)
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(b) Commencing July 1, 1989, each local and regional board of education shall offer
during the regular school day planned, ongoing and systematic instruction on acquired
immune deficiency syndrome, as taught by legally qualified teachers. The content and
scheduling of the instruction shall be within the discretion of the local or regional board
of education. Not later than July 1, 1989, each local and regional board of education
shall adopt a policy, as the board deems appropriate, concerning the exemption of pupils
from such instruction upon written request of the parent or guardian. The State Board
of Education shall make materials available to assist local and regional boards of education in developing instruction pursuant to this subsection.
(1949 Rev., S. 1358; 1959, P.A. 411, S. 4; February, 1965, P.A. 140, S. 1; 1967, P.A. 555, S. 61; 1969, P.A. 753, S.
33; 1971, P.A. 370, S. 2; P.A. 73-632, S. 2, 3, 5; P.A. 75-211, S. 1; P.A. 77-573, S. 24, 30; P.A. 78-218, S. 20; P.A. 82-
218, S. 37, 46; P.A. 83-160, S. 1; P.A. 84-241, S. 2, 5; P.A. 85-579, S. 3, 5; P.A. 88-112, S. 1, 2; 88-136, S. 24, 37; P.A.
90-133, S. 1; P.A. 93-381, S. 9, 39; 93-435, S. 59, 63; P.A. 95-182, S. 2, 11; 95-257, S. 11, 12, 21, 58.)
History: 1959 act changed reference to state teachers colleges to state colleges; 1965 act included teaching of effects
of narcotics and alcohol on personality development and began teaching of effects in fifth rather than third grade; 1967
act substituted "controlled drugs" for "narcotics"; 1969 act included teaching of effects of nicotine or tobacco, specified
that such teaching take place at least once every academic year and added provision for development of programs and
training of teachers and guidance personnel; 1971 act deleted reference to teaching "at least once" each year, required
teaching of all grades, not just fifth grade and above, included administrators in training provision and deleted sentence
referring to classes in ungraded schools; P.A. 73-632 substituted "institutions of higher education" for "colleges", included
the drug advisory council in development of programs and added Subsec. (b) concerning drug and information and instruction programs in higher education institutions; P.A. 75-211 limited institutions of higher education in Subsec. (a) to those
"approved ... to train teachers" and included the Connecticut state alcohol council in development of programs and included
alcohol information and instruction programs in Subsec. (b); P.A. 77-573 substituted board of higher education for commission for higher education; P.A. 78-218 deleted Subsec. (b); P.A. 82-218 replaced board of higher education with board of
governors pursuant to reorganization of higher education system, effective March 1, 1983; P.A. 83-160 replaced the drug
advisory council and the Connecticut state alcohol council with the state alcohol and drug abuse commission; P.A. 84-241
added "of higher education" to board of governors' title; P.A. 85-579 added Subsec. (b) re a study of the alcohol and drug
prevention programs provided by local and regional boards of education; P.A. 88-112 added new Subsec. re instruction
on acquired immune deficiency syndrome; P.A. 88-136 deleted obsolete Subsec. (b) re report on the alcohol and drug
prevention programs provided by local and regional boards of education; P.A. 90-133 in Subsec. (a) expanded what is to
be taught concerning alcohol, nicotine or tobacco and drugs, provided that there be an annual attestation to the state board
of education concerning the teaching of these subjects and provided that the programs developed by the state board of
education, et al, are not limited to health education programs; P.A. 93-381 replaced state alcohol and drug abuse commission
with department of public health and addiction services, effective July 1, 1993 (Note: The word "commissioner" was
substituted editorially by the Revisors for "department" to parallel existing language); P.A. 95-182 amended Subsec. (a)
to allow boards of education to set the content and scheduling of instruction, effective June 28, 1995; P.A. 95-257 replaced
Commissioner and Department of Mental Health with Commissioner and Department of Mental Health and Addiction
Services and replaced Commissioner and Department of Public Health and Addiction Services with Commissioner and
Department of Public Health, effective July 1, 1995.
See Sec. 10-16b re prescribed courses of study generally.
See Sec. 10-145a re certificates of qualification for teachers.
Cited. 152 C. 151. Cited. 238 C. 1.
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(P.A. 87-457, S. 1, 5; P.A. 96-244, S. 62, 63.)
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(P.A. 87-457, S. 2, 5.)
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(b) A youth service bureau established pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
may provide, but shall not be limited to the delivery of, the following services: (1)
Individual and group counseling; (2) parent training and family therapy; (3) work placement and employment counseling; (4) alternative and special educational opportunities;
(5) recreational and youth enrichment programs; (6) outreach programs to insure participation and planning by the entire community for the development of regional and community-based youth services; (7) preventive programs, including youth pregnancy,
youth suicide, violence, alcohol and drug prevention; and (8) programs that develop
positive youth involvement. Such services shall be designed to meet the needs of youth
by the diversion of troubled youth from the justice system as well as by the provision
of opportunities for all youth to function as responsible members of their communities.
(c) The Commissioner of Education shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 54, establishing minimum standards for such youth service bureaus
and the criteria for qualifying for state cost-sharing grants, including, but not limited
to, allowable sources of funds covering the local share of the costs of operating such
bureaus, acceptable in-kind contributions and application procedures. Said commissioner shall, on December 1, 1979, and annually thereafter, report to the General Assembly on the referral or diversion of children under the age of sixteen years from the juvenile
justice system and on the referral or diversion of children between the ages of sixteen
and eighteen years from the court system. Such report shall include, but not be limited
to, the number of times any child is so diverted, the number of children diverted, the
type of service provided to any such child, by whom such child was diverted, the ages
of the children diverted and such other information and statistics as the General Assembly may request from time to time. Any such report shall contain no identifying information about any particular child.
(P.A. 76-127, S. 1−3, 5; P.A. 78-183, S. 1, 4; P.A. 89-191, S. 3; P.A. 91-146, S. 1, 2; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; 93-432, S. 1,
6; P.A. 95-339, S. 1, 8.)
History: P.A. 78-183 replaced youth service system with youth service bureau and expanded Subsec. (c), clarifying
scope of regulations and adding provisions re annual report; P.A. 89-191 added Subdivs. (7) and (8) in Subsec. (b) to
include preventive programs, including youth suicide, alcohol and drug prevention and programs that develop positive
youth involvement; Sec. 17-443 transferred to Sec. 17a-39 in 1991; P.A. 91-146 amended Subsec. (a) to provide that youth
service bureaus may coordinate delivery of prevention, intervention, treatment and follow-up services for all youth and
made technical change in Subsec. (b); P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and department of children and families for
commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 93-432 added pregnant and
parenting youth to the list of individuals who may be referred to a youth service bureau, allowed the adult courts to refer
individuals to the youth service bureau, and provided that a youth service bureau shall be the coordinating unit of community-
based services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-339 amended Subsec. (c) to transfer responsibility for the program from the
Commissioner of Children and Families to the Commissioner of Education, effective July 1, 1995; Sec. 17a-39 transferred to
Sec. 10-19m in 1997.
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(P.A. 78-183, S. 2, 4; P.A. 83-78; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; 93-432, S. 2, 6; P.A. 95-339, S. 2, 8; P.A. 96-178, S. 9, 18.)
History: P.A. 83-78 amended Subsecs. (b) and (c) to remove limitations (tying the amount of state grants to the number
of children and youth in the municipality and requiring that any state administered federal funds allocated to the municipality
for such units be included in determining the amount of the state grant) on state grants for an administrative core unit and
for the direct services unit; Sec. 17-443a transferred to Sec. 17a-40 in 1991; P.A. 93-91 substituted commissioner and
department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth services, effective July 1,
1993; P.A. 93-432 defined the functions of administrative core units, removed the reference to the availability of funds as
related to the cost-sharing grants, established a time frame for new requests for grants and for already existing youth service
bureaus and removed the mathematical formula for the distribution of grants in former Subsecs. (b) and (c), effective July
1, 1993; P.A. 95-339 transferred responsibility for the grants from the Commissioner of Children and Families to the
Commissioner of Education, effective July 1, 1995 (Note: A reference to Sec. 54-91d, repealed by P.A. 95-225, was deleted
editorially by the Revisors); P.A. 96-178 deleted a provision to give priority to certain applicants and deleted requirement
for certain applicants for grants pursuant to Sec. 10-19o to submit applications on or before January thirty-first of the fiscal
year prior to the fiscal year for which the grant is requested, effective July 1, 1996; Sec. 17a-40 transferred to Sec. 10-19n
in 1997.
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(b) In order for a youth service bureau to receive the full amount of the state grant
determined pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, a town shall contribute an amount
equal to the amount of the state grant. A town shall provide not less than fifty per
cent of its contribution from funds appropriated by the town for that purpose, and the
remaining amount in other funds or in-kind contributions in accordance with regulations
adopted by the State Board of Education in accordance with chapter 54.
(c) Any funds remaining due to a town's failure to match funds as provided in
subsection (b) of this section shall be redistributed in accordance with the provisions
of this section. The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations in accordance with
the provisions of chapter 54 to coordinate the youth service bureau program and to
administer the grant system established pursuant to this section and sections 10-19m
and 10-19n.
(P.A. 93-432, S. 3, 6; P.A. 95-339, S. 3, 8; P.A. 96-178, S. 10, 18; 96-244, S. 58, 63; P.A. 98-186, S. 1, 2; June Sp.
Sess. P.A. 99-1, S. 32, 51; P.A. 00-187, S. 22, 75.)
History: P.A. 93-432 effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-339 transferred responsibility for the program from the Department
of Children and Families to the Department of Education, added the limitation on eligibility for grants, provided for the
twelve-thousand-dollar grant, added the method for distribution of any remaining funds and made technical changes,
effective July 1, 1995 (Note: A reference to Sec. 54-91d, repealed by P.A. 95-225, was deleted editorially by the Revisors);
P.A. 96-178 amended Subsec. (a) to change the date concerning eligibility from "1995" to "1996", to remove a reference
to eligibility for grants to youth service bureaus which applied to the Commissioner of Children and Families by June 11,
1995 and to make technical changes and amended Subsec. (b) to substitute "State Board" for "Commissioner", effective
July 1, 1996; P.A. 96-244 amended Subsec. (a) to expand the number of youth service bureaus eligible for grants to include
youth service bureaus which applied for a grant by May 15, 1996, and repeated changes enacted by P.A. 96-178, effective
June 6, 1996; Sec. 17a-40a transferred to Sec. 10-19o in 1997; P.A. 98-186 amended Subsec. (a) to substitute 1998 for
1996 in the eligibility dates for grants, effective July 1, 1998; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 99-1 amended Subsec. (a) to extend
eligibility dates for grants by one year and increased grant amount from twelve thousand to fourteen thousand dollars,
effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-187 amended Subsec. (a) to extend the time frames by one year from 1999 to 2000, effective
June 1, 2000.
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(P.A. 78-183, S. 3, 4; P.A. 82-63; P.A. 93-91, S. 1, 2; P.A. 95-339, S. 4, 8.)
History: P.A. 82-63 deleted the requirement that assistance be given "from funds appropriated for grants under the
provisions of this section and sections 17-443 and 17-443a"; Sec. 17-443b transferred to Sec. 17a-41 in 1991; P.A. 93-91
substituted commissioner and department of children and families for commissioner and department of children and youth
services, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 95-339 transferred responsibility for the program from the Department of Children
and Families to the Department of Education, effective July 1, 1995; Sec. 17a-41 transferred to Sec. 10-19p in 1997.
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(1949 Rev., S. 1359; 1963, P.A. 361.)
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(2) The Commissioner of Education shall establish regional school-to-career partnerships. The partnerships shall include, but need not be limited to, educators, students
and representatives of local and regional boards of education, postsecondary educational
institutions, regional workforce development boards established pursuant to section 31-
3k, business and industry and labor organizations.
(b) Programs established pursuant to this section may be offered for one or more
years and shall include:
(1) Not less than eighty hours during any year of school-based instruction which
focuses on the academic, technical and employability skills outlined in the skill standards
established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, and instruction in the history of
the American economy and the role of labor, business and industry;
(2) Work-based instruction which includes worksite experience, including all major
activities related to the career cluster. Such worksite experience shall: (A) Be paid,
except as provided in section 10-20b, (B) include a planned program of job training and
work experiences, including training related to preemployment and employment skills
to be mastered at progressively higher levels, that are coordinated with school-based
instruction, (C) include instruction, to the extent practicable, in all aspects of the industry,
(D) relate to the academic, technical and employability skills outlined in the skill standards established pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, (E) include, but not be limited
to, on-the-job training, internships, community service and field trips, (F) be conducted
in accordance with an individualized written training and mentoring plan, agreed to by
the student, his parent or guardian, if the student is under eighteen years of age, the
principal of the school or the chief executive officer of the agency operating the program
in which the student is enrolled, or the designee of such principal or chief executive
officer, and the employer, and (G) be in conformance with the requirements of section
10-20d; and
(3) Activities that ensure coordination between school-based instruction and work-
based instruction, including, but not limited to, (A) career awareness and exploration
opportunities, and (B) information and guidance concerning transition to postsecondary
education.
(c) For purposes of this section, "career cluster" means a range of occupations which
share a set of skills and knowledge. Such skills and knowledge include (1) academic
and technical skills related to the type of employment and (2) general employability
skills. The Commissioner of Education, in consultation with other state, regional and
local agencies, business and industry and labor organizations, shall maintain a list of
state recognized career clusters and skill standards for each such career cluster.
(P.A. 94-116, S. 21, 28; P.A. 97-195, S. 1, 5.)
History: P.A. 94-116 effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 97-195 amended Subsec. (a) to designate existing provisions as
Subdiv. (1), provide for the establishment of programs by postsecondary institutions, add the consultation role for regional
workforce development boards, change the review and comment provision prior to approval by the commissioners by
substituting regional school-to-career partnership for regional workforce development board, provide that students be
enrolled based on entry criteria determined by the establishing agency, and add Subdiv. (2) re the regional school-to-career
partnerships; amended Subsec. (b) in Subdiv. (1) to substitute school-based instruction for subject matter instruction and
to add instruction in the history of the American economy and the role of labor, business and industry, in Subdiv. (2) to
delete a requirement for not less than one hundred eighty hours of worksite experience, to redesignate existing Subparas.
(B) and (C) as Subparas. (F) and (G), to add new Subparas. (B) to (E), inclusive, to change the provision for approval of
the training and mentoring plan to include the parent or guardian, if the student is under eighteen years of age, and the
chief executive officer of the agency operating the program, and in Subdiv. (3) to expand the requirement for coordination
to include career awareness and exploration opportunities and information and guidance concerning transition to postsecondary education; deleted Subsec. (c) re entry criteria; redesignated Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (c) and changed the description
of the items included in skills and knowledge; and made technical changes, effective June 24, 1997.
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(b) Students participating in such programs shall not: (1) Replace any employee or
cause any reduction in hours of work, wages or employment benefits of any employee
of an employer participating in the program or (2) be employed in a job from which an
employee of a participating employer has been laid off and for which he retains recall
rights. No employer shall terminate the employment of any of its employees or otherwise
reduce its workforce or work hours in order to fill a vacancy so created with a student
participating in the program. The participation of any employer who is a party to one
or more collective bargaining agreements covering work to be performed by a student
participating in the program shall be conditioned on the written concurrence of each
labor organization that is a party to such an agreement.
(c) The employment of students in programs established pursuant to section 10-
20a shall be paid employment, unless the Labor Commissioner, or his designee, in
consultation with the Commissioner of Education, or his designee, receives and approves a written request from the principal of the school or the chief executive officer
of the agency operating the program in which the student is enrolled, or the designee
of such principal or chief executive officer, that such employment not be paid because
of worksite experiences that are generally not paid employment, such as community
service activities. The terms of compensation shall be (1) negotiated between the employer and such principal or chief executive officer, or the designee of such principal
or chief executive officer, (2) accepted by the student, (3) based on the nature of the
work and the status of the student-worker as a student, and (4) reasonable for the actual
work performed.
(P.A. 94-116, S. 22, 28; P.A. 97-195, S. 2, 5.)
History: P.A. 94-116 effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 97-195 amended Subsec. (c) to add references to the chief executive
officer of the agency operating the program and made technical changes, effective June 24, 1997.
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(b) No more than one elective credit for purposes of section 10-221a shall be
awarded for each such program of at least one hundred twenty hours of work-based
instruction which is successfully completed at the secondary level. Credit for work
experience at the postsecondary level shall be determined by the board of trustees or
governing authority for the postsecondary institution in which the student is enrolled.
(P.A. 94-116, S. 23, 28; P.A. 97-195, S. 3, 5.)
History: P.A. 94-116 effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 97-195 amended Subsec. (b) to change the requirements for credits
and to add provision allowing the board of trustees or governing authority to determine credit at the postsecondary level,
effective June 24, 1997.
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