You asked if Connecticut law requires a school district that does not offer vocational-agricultural training to pay a student’s tuition to attend another such program when the student is denied entry into the program designated by the district due to space limitations.

Pursuant to C. G. S. § 10-64(d), boards of education that do not furnish vocational-agricultural training approved by the State Board of Education must designate a school or schools that does furnish such training as the school that any of the high school students in the district may attend. Such boards must pay the tuition and reasonable and necessary cost of transportation of a student attending the designated school that is under 21 and is not a high school or vocational school graduate. The statute only requires boards to pay the costs associated with attending a “designated school. ” According to the State Department of Education (SDE), boards without vocational-agricultural programs enter into agreements with the designated boards or programs in order to make the training available to those students. Such agreements may encompass admissions criteria, space limitations, and tuition. It is SDE’s interpretation that a board’s statutory duty under 10-64(d) is met once a school has been designated.

SC: ts