File No. 394

House of Representatives, April 12, 2012

The Committee on Judiciary reported through REP. FOX, G. of the 146th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL-BASED ARRESTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 10-220 of the 2012 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2013):

(a) Each local or regional board of education shall maintain good public elementary and secondary schools, implement the educational interests of the state as defined in section 10-4a and provide such other educational activities as in its judgment will best serve the interests of the school district; provided any board of education may secure such opportunities in another school district in accordance with provisions of the general statutes and shall give all the children of the school district as nearly equal advantages as may be practicable; shall provide an appropriate learning environment for its students which includes (1) adequate instructional books, supplies, materials, equipment, staffing, facilities and technology, (2) equitable allocation of resources among its schools, (3) proper maintenance of facilities, and (4) a safe school setting; shall, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (f) of this section, maintain records of allegations, investigations and reports that a child has been abused or neglected by a school employee, as defined in section 53a-65, employed by the local or regional board of education; shall have charge of the schools of its respective school district; shall make a continuing study of the need for school facilities and of a long-term school building program and from time to time make recommendations based on such study to the town; shall adopt and implement an indoor air quality program that provides for ongoing maintenance and facility reviews necessary for the maintenance and improvement of the indoor air quality of its facilities; shall adopt and implement a green cleaning program, pursuant to section 10-231g, that provides for the procurement and use of environmentally preferable cleaning products in school buildings and facilities; on and after July 1, 2011, and triennially thereafter, shall report to the Commissioner of Education on the condition of its facilities and the action taken to implement its long-term school building program, indoor air quality program and green cleaning program, which report the Commissioner of Education shall use to prepare a triennial report that said commissioner shall submit in accordance with section 11-4a to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education; shall advise the Commissioner of Education of the relationship between any individual school building project pursuant to chapter 173 and such long-term school building program; shall have the care, maintenance and operation of buildings, lands, apparatus and other property used for school purposes and at all times shall insure all such buildings and all capital equipment contained therein against loss in an amount not less than eighty per cent of replacement cost; shall determine the number, age and qualifications of the pupils to be admitted into each school; shall develop and implement a written plan for minority staff recruitment for purposes of subdivision (3) of section 10-4a; shall employ and dismiss the teachers of the schools of such district subject to the provisions of sections 10-151 and 10-158a; shall designate the schools which shall be attended by the various children within the school district; shall make such provisions as will enable each child of school age residing in the district to attend some public day school for the period required by law and provide for the transportation of children wherever transportation is reasonable and desirable, and for such purpose may make contracts covering periods of not more than five years; shall adopt and implement a policy regarding the role and responsibility of any sworn police officer of a local law enforcement agency or a sworn officer of the Division of State Police within the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection who has been assigned to any school pursuant to an agreement between the local or regional board of education and the chief of police of a local law enforcement agency or the commanding officer of the Division of State Police; may place in an alternative school program or other suitable educational program a pupil enrolling in school who is nineteen years of age or older and cannot acquire a sufficient number of credits for graduation by age twenty-one; may arrange with the board of education of an adjacent town for the instruction therein of such children as can attend school in such adjacent town more conveniently; shall cause each child five years of age and over and under eighteen years of age who is not a high school graduate and is living in the school district to attend school in accordance with the provisions of section 10-184, and shall perform all acts required of it by the town or necessary to carry into effect the powers and duties imposed by law.

(b) The board of education of each local or regional school district shall, with the participation of parents, students, school administrators, teachers, citizens, local elected officials and any other individuals or groups such board shall deem appropriate, prepare a statement of educational goals for such local or regional school district. The statement of goals shall be consistent with state-wide goals pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-4. Each local or regional board of education shall annually establish student objectives for the school year which relate directly to the statement of educational goals prepared pursuant to this subsection and which identify specific expectations for students in terms of skills, knowledge and competence.

(c) Annually, each local and regional board of education shall submit to the Commissioner of Education a strategic school profile report for each school under its jurisdiction and for the school district as a whole. The superintendent of each local and regional school district shall present the profile report at the next regularly scheduled public meeting of the board of education after each November first. The profile report shall provide information on measures of (1) student needs, (2) school resources, including technological resources and utilization of such resources and infrastructure, (3) student and school performance, including truancy and discipline, (4) the number of students enrolled in an adult high school credit diploma program, pursuant to section 10-69, operated by a local or regional board of education or a regional educational service center, (5) equitable allocation of resources among its schools, (6) reduction of racial, ethnic and economic isolation, [and] (7) special education, and (8) for any profile report prepared on or after July 1, 2014, school-based arrests. For purposes of this subsection, measures of special education include (A) special education identification rates by disability, (B) rates at which special education students are exempted from mastery testing pursuant to section 10-14q, (C) expenditures for special education, including such expenditures as a percentage of total expenditures, (D) achievement data for special education students, (E) rates at which students identified as requiring special education are no longer identified as requiring special education, (F) the availability of supplemental educational services for students lacking basic educational skills, (G) the amount of special education student instructional time with nondisabled peers, (H) the number of students placed out-of-district, and (I) the actions taken by the school district to improve special education programs, as indicated by analyses of the local data provided in subparagraphs (A) to (H), inclusive, of this subdivision. The superintendent shall include in the narrative portion of the report information about parental involvement and if the district has taken measures to improve parental involvement, including, but not limited to, employment of methods to engage parents in the planning and improvement of school programs and methods to increase support to parents working at home with their children on learning activities. For purposes of this subsection, measures of truancy include the type of data that is required to be collected by the Department of Education regarding attendance and unexcused absences in order for the department to comply with federal reporting requirements and the actions taken by the local or regional board of education to reduce truancy in the school district. Such truancy data shall be considered a public record for purposes of chapter 14. For purposes of this subsection, "school-based arrest" means an arrest of a student, who is enrolled in a school under the jurisdiction of the local or regional board of education preparing the strategic school profile report, on school property during the school day, or an arrest of such student at a school-sponsored activity conducted on or off school property. For purposes of this subsection, measures of school-based arrests shall include the number of arrests made annually at each school within the school district. The measures of school-based arrests shall be disaggregated by race, ethnicity, gender, age, whether the student is a recipient of special education services, whether the student is an English language learner, and the offenses for which the school-based arrests were made, provided any disaggregated measure that relates to the arrest of one to five students shall be reported through use of a symbol.

(d) Prior to January 1, 2008, and every five years thereafter, for every school building that is or has been constructed, extended, renovated or replaced on or after January 1, 2003, a local or regional board of education shall provide for a uniform inspection and evaluation program of the indoor air quality within such buildings, such as the Environmental Protection Agency's Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Program. The inspection and evaluation program shall include, but not be limited to, a review, inspection or evaluation of the following: (1) The heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems; (2) radon levels in the air; (3) potential for exposure to microbiological airborne particles, including, but not limited to, fungi, mold and bacteria; (4) chemical compounds of concern to indoor air quality including, but not limited to, volatile organic compounds; (5) the degree of pest infestation, including, but not limited to, insects and rodents; (6) the degree of pesticide usage; (7) the presence of and the plans for removal of any hazardous substances that are contained on the list prepared pursuant to Section 302 of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act, 42 USC 9601 et seq.; (8) ventilation systems; (9) plumbing, including water distribution systems, drainage systems and fixtures; (10) moisture incursion; (11) the overall cleanliness of the facilities; (12) building structural elements, including, but not limited to, roofing, basements or slabs; (13) the use of space, particularly areas that were designed to be unoccupied; and (14) the provision of indoor air quality maintenance training for building staff. Local and regional boards of education conducting evaluations pursuant to this subsection shall make available for public inspection the results of the inspection and evaluation at a regularly scheduled board of education meeting and on the board's or each individual school's web site.

(e) Each local and regional board of education shall establish a school district curriculum committee. The committee shall recommend, develop, review and approve all curriculum for the local or regional school district.

(f) Each local and regional board of education shall maintain in a central location all records of allegations, investigations and reports that a child has been abused or neglected by a school employee, as defined in section 53a-65, employed by the local or regional board of education, conducted pursuant to sections 17a-101a to 17a-101d, inclusive, and section 17a-103. Such records shall include any reports made to the Department of Children and Families. The Department of Education shall have access to such records.

Statement of Legislative Commissioners:

In section 1(a), the reference to "Department of Emergency Services Public Protection" was changed to "Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection" for accuracy.

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

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill requires local and regional school boards to implement a policy defining the role and responsibility of sworn police officers placed in schools; this is not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact as school boards have the capacity to implement such policy.

Additionally, the bill requires local and regional school boards to provide information on school based arrests in their annual strategic school profile. This is not anticipated to result in a fiscal impact as schools are already required to produce the annual report.

The Out Years

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 5432

AN ACT CONCERNING SCHOOL-BASED ARRESTS.

SUMMARY:

This bill requires:

1. local and regional boards of education to adopt and implement a policy defining the role and responsibility of sworn police officers placed in schools by agreement between the school board and highest local or state law enforcement official and

2. each board's annual “strategic school profile reports” for each school and district as a whole to include measures of (a) discipline (which the bill does not define) and (b) beginning with the first reports issued after July 1, 2014, school-based arrests.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2013

SCHOOL-BASED ARRESTS

The bill defines a “school-based arrest” as the arrest on school property during the school day or at a school-sponsored activity on or off school property, of a student enrolled in a school under the jurisdiction of the local or regional reporting board.

The bill's measures of school-based arrests include the number of arrests made annually at each school within the district, disaggregated by:

1. race,

2. ethnicity,

3. gender,

4. age,

5. whether the student receives special education services,

6. whether the student is an English language learner, and

7. the offenses for which the arrests were made.

The bill requires that any disaggregated measure relating to the arrest of fewer than six students be reported using a “symbol.” It is unclear how this directive is to be implemented, but presumably, a report would protect student confidentiality in a disaggregated measure that included small student numbers.

BACKGROUND

Strategic School Profile Reports

Strategic profile reports generally measure school performance in areas such as student needs, school resources, student and school performance (including truancy), and provision of special education services. Districts must issue reports for each school in the district and the district as a whole.

In addition to being submitted annually to the education commissioner of each superintendent must present the reports at the board of education's next regularly scheduled public meeting after each November 1^st.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Judiciary Committee

Joint Favorable