General Assembly |
File No. 319 |
January Session, 2011 |
House of Representatives, March 31, 2011
The Committee on Education reported through REP. FLEISCHMANN of the 18th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.
AN ACT CONCERNING JUVENILE REENTRY AND EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 10-186 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):
(a) Each local or regional board of education shall furnish, by transportation or otherwise, school accommodations so that each child five years of age and over and under twenty-one years of age who is not a graduate of a high school or vocational school may attend public school, except as provided in section 10-233c, and subsection (d) of section 10-233d, as amended by this act. Any board of education which denies school accommodations, including a denial based on an issue of residency, to any such child shall inform the parent or guardian of such child or the child, in the case of an emancipated minor or a pupil eighteen years of age or older, of his right to request a hearing by the board of education in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section. A board of education which has denied school accommodations shall advise the board of education under whose jurisdiction it claims such child should be attending school of the denial. For purposes of this section, (1) a "parent or guardian" shall include a surrogate parent appointed pursuant to section 10-94g, and (2) a child residing in a dwelling located in more than one town in this state shall be considered a resident of each town in which the dwelling is located and may attend school in any one of such towns. For purposes of this subsection, "dwelling" means a single, two or three family house or a condominium unit.
(b) (1) If any board of education denies such accommodations, the parent or guardian of any child who is denied schooling, or an emancipated minor or a pupil eighteen years of age or older who is denied schooling, or an agent or officer charged with the enforcement of the laws concerning attendance at school, may, in writing, request a hearing by the board of education. The board of education may (A) conduct the hearing, (B) designate a subcommittee of the board composed of three board members to conduct the hearing, or (C) establish a local impartial hearing board of one or more persons not members of the board of education to conduct the hearing. The board, subcommittee or local impartial hearing board shall give such person a hearing within ten days after receipt of the written request, make a stenographic record or tape recording of the hearing and make a finding within ten days after the hearing. Hearings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of sections 4-176e to 4-180a, inclusive, and section 4-181a. Any child, emancipated minor or pupil eighteen years of age or older who is denied accommodations on the basis of residency may continue in attendance in the school district at the request of the parent or guardian of such child or emancipated minor or pupil eighteen years of age or older, pending a hearing pursuant to this subdivision. The party claiming ineligibility for school accommodations shall have the burden of proving such ineligibility by a preponderance of the evidence, except in cases of denial of schooling based on residency, the party denied schooling shall have the burden of proving residency by a preponderance of the evidence.
(2) Any such parent, guardian, emancipated minor, pupil eighteen years of age or older, or agent or officer, aggrieved by the finding shall, upon request, be provided with a transcript of the hearing within thirty days after such request and may take an appeal from the finding to the State Board of Education. A copy of each notice of appeal shall be filed simultaneously with the local or regional board of education and the State Board of Education. Any child, emancipated minor or pupil eighteen years of age or older who is denied accommodations by a board of education as the result of a determination by such board, or a subcommittee of the board or local impartial hearing board, that the child is not a resident of the school district and therefore is not entitled to school accommodations in the district may continue in attendance in the school district at the request of the parent or guardian of such child or such minor or pupil, pending a determination of such appeal. If an appeal is not taken to the State Board of Education within twenty days of the mailing of the finding to the aggrieved party, the decision of the board, subcommittee or local impartial hearing board shall be final. The local or regional board of education shall, within ten days after receipt of notice of an appeal, forward the record of the hearing to the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education shall, on receipt of a written request for a hearing made in accordance with the provisions of this subsection, establish an impartial hearing board of one or more persons to hold a public hearing in the local or regional school district in which the cause of the complaint arises. Members of the hearing board may be employees of the Department of Education or may be qualified persons from outside the department. No member of the board of education under review nor any employee of such board of education shall be a member of the hearing board. Members of the hearing board, other than those employed by the Department of Education, shall be paid reasonable fees and expenses as established by the State Board of Education within the limits of available appropriations. Such hearing board may examine witnesses and shall maintain a verbatim record of all formal sessions of the hearing. Either party to the hearing may request that the hearing board join all interested parties to the hearing, or the hearing board may join any interested party on its own motion. The hearing board shall have no authority to make a determination of the rights and responsibilities of a board of education if such board is not a party to the hearing. The hearing board may render a determination of actual residence of any child, emancipated minor or pupil eighteen years of age or older where residency is at issue.
(3) The hearing board shall render its decision within forty-five days after receipt of the notice of appeal except that an extension may be granted by the Commissioner of Education upon an application by a party or the hearing board describing circumstances related to the hearing which require an extension.
(4) If, after the hearing, the hearing board finds that any child is illegally or unreasonably denied schooling, the hearing board shall order the board of education under whose jurisdiction it has been found such child should be attending school to make arrangements to enable the child to attend public school. Except in the case of a residency determination, the finding of the local or regional board of education, subcommittee of such board or a local impartial hearing board shall be upheld unless it is determined by the hearing board that the finding was arbitrary, capricious or unreasonable. If such school officers fail to take action upon such order in any case in which such child is currently denied schooling and no suitable provision is made for such child within fifteen days after receipt of the order and in all other cases, within thirty days after receipt of the order, there shall be a forfeiture of the money appropriated by the state for the support of schools amounting to fifty dollars for each child for each day such child is denied schooling. If the hearing board makes a determination that the child was not a resident of the school district and therefore not entitled to school accommodations from such district, the board of education may assess tuition against the parent or guardian of the child or the emancipated minor or pupil eighteen years of age or older based on the following: One one-hundred-eightieth of the town's net current local educational expenditure, as defined in section 10-261, per pupil multiplied by the number of days of school attendance of the child in the district while not entitled to school accommodations provided by that district. The local board of education may seek to recover the amount of the assessment through available civil remedies.
(c) In the event of an appeal pursuant to section 10-187 from a decision of a hearing board established pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, upon request, the State Board of Education shall supply for the fee per page specified in section 1-212, a copy of the transcript of the formal sessions of the hearing board to the parent or guardian or emancipated minor or a pupil eighteen years of age or older and to the local or regional board of education.
(d) (1) For the school year commencing July 1, 2010, if a child sixteen years of age or older voluntarily terminates enrollment in a school district and subsequently seeks readmission, the local or regional board of education for the school district may deny school accommodations to such child for up to ninety school days from the date of such termination, unless such child seeks readmission to such school district not later than ten school days after such termination in which case such board shall provide school accommodations to such child not later than three school days after such child seeks readmission.
(2) For the school year commencing July 1, 2011, and each school year thereafter, if a child seventeen years of age or older voluntarily terminates enrollment in a school district and subsequently seeks readmission, the local or regional board of education for the school district may deny school accommodations to such child for up to ninety school days from the date of such termination, unless such child seeks readmission to such school district not later than ten school days after such termination in which case such board shall provide school accommodations to such child not later than three school days after such child seeks readmission.
(e) A local or regional board of education shall immediately enroll any student who transfers from Unified School District #1 or Unified School District #2. In the case of a student who transfers from Unified School District #1 or Unified School District #2 to the school district in which such student attended school prior to enrollment in Unified School District #1 or Unified School District #2, such student shall be enrolled in the school such student previously attended, provided such school has the appropriate grade level for such student.
Sec. 2. Section 10-220h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):
When a student enrolls in a school in a new school district or in a new state charter school, the new school district or new state charter school shall provide written notification of such enrollment to the school district in which the student previously attended school or the state charter school the student previously attended not later than two business days after the student enrolls. The school district in which the student previously attended school or the state charter school that the student previously attended (1) shall transfer the student's education records to the new school district or new state charter school no later than ten days after receipt of such notification, and (2) if the student's parent or guardian did not give written authorization for the transfer of such records, shall send notification of the transfer to the parent or guardian at the same time that it transfers the records. In the case of a student who transfers from Unified School District #1 or Unified School District #2, the new school district or new state charter school shall provide written notification of such enrollment to Unified School District #1 or Unified School District #2 not later than ten days after the date of enrollment. [, the] The unified school district shall, not later than ten days after receipt of notification of enrollment from the new school district or new state charter school, transfer the records of the student to the new school district or new state charter school and the new school district or new state charter school shall, not later than thirty days after receiving the student's education records, credit the student for all instruction received in Unified School District #1 or Unified School District #2.
Sec. 3. Subsection (l) of section 10-233d of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2011):
(l) (1) Any student who commits an expellable offense and is subsequently committed to a juvenile detention center, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School or any other residential placement for such offense may be expelled by a local or regional board of education in accordance with the provisions of this section. The period of expulsion shall run concurrently with the period of commitment to a juvenile detention center, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School or any other residential placement.
(2) If a student who committed an expellable offense seeks to return to a school district after having been in a juvenile detention center, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School or any other residential placement [for one year or more, the] and such student has not been expelled by the local or regional board of education for such offense under subdivision (1) of this subsection, the local or regional board of education for the school district to which the student is returning shall allow such student to return and may not expel the student for additional time for such offense.
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
July 1, 2011 |
10-186 |
Sec. 2 |
July 1, 2011 |
10-220h |
Sec. 3 |
July 1, 2011 |
10-233d(l) |
ED |
Joint Favorable Subst. |
The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst's professional knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.
OFA Fiscal Note
Explanation
The bill, which makes a number of changes to enrollment and re-enrollment procedures, is not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact, as districts have already budgeted for the students involved.
The Out Years
OLR Bill Analysis
AN ACT CONCERNING JUVENILE REENTRY AND EDUCATION.
This bill:
1. expands a student's right to re-enroll in his or her old school district after being sent to a juvenile detention center, the Connecticut Juvenile Training School, or another residential placement for committing an offense for which he or she could be expelled from school;
2. requires school districts to immediately enroll or re-enroll a student transferring from either of the unified school districts (USDs) run by the departments of Correction and Children and Families (USD #1 and USD #2, respectively);
3. requires a school district to re-enroll such a student in his or her former school, if the student went to school in the district before attending in a USD and the former school has appropriate grades for the student;
4. establishes a deadline for a new school district or charter school to notify a transfer student's previous district or charter school of a student's enrollment, and extends to USD #2 the currently required deadline for a new school district or charter school to notify USD #1 of a student's transfer; and
5. requires school districts and charter schools to give students credit for instruction received in USD #2 within 30 days after receiving the student's records, as they must already do for instruction received in USD #1.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2011
RE-ENROLLING IN SCHOOL AFTER RELEASE FROM JUVENILE DETENTION
Current law prohibits a school district from preventing the return of, or expelling for additional time for the same offense, a student who committed an expellable offense, was sent to juvenile detention for the offense for at least a year, and seeks to return to school in the district.
The bill extends this prohibition to students who commit an expellable offense for which they are sent to juvenile detention for less than a year. Under the bill, the school district may expel the student for the offense, and if it does so, the expulsion and the detention periods must run concurrently. But, if the district does not expel the student for the offense, it must allow him or her to re-enroll in school after the detention period ends and cannot expel him or her for any additional time for that offense.
DEADLINES FOR NOTICE OF STUDENT TRANSFERS
By law, when a student enrolls in a new school district or charter school, the new district or school must notify his or her previous district or charter school of the transfer in writing. The bill requires the new school district or charter school to send the notice within two business days after the student enrolls, unless the student transfers from a USD.
For a student transferring from USD #1, the law already requires the new district or charter school to send the notice to USD #1 within 10 days after the student enrolls. The bill applies the same 10-day deadline for notifying USD #2 of a student's transfer from that district.
BACKGROUND
School Expulsions
By law, boards of education can expel students whose conduct (1) on school grounds or at a school-sponsored activity violates a publicized board policy, is seriously disruptive of the educational process, or endangers people or property or (2) off school grounds violates board policy and is seriously disruptive of the educational process.
The law requires a mandatory expulsion of one calendar year for students found to possess firearms or other dangerous weapons on school grounds or at school-sponsored activities, or off school grounds, if they have no permit to carry them or use them when committing a crime. The law also requires a one-year expulsion for students who offer illegal drugs for sale on or off school grounds (CGS § 10-233d(a)).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Education Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea |
32 |
Nay |
0 |
(03/17/2011) |