AN ACT CONCERNING MINOR REVISIONS TO THE EDUCATION STATUTES.

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

Section 1. Section 10-264o of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter, interdistrict magnet schools that begin operations on or after July 1, 2008, pursuant to the 2008 stipulation and order for Milo Sheff, et al. v. William A. O'Neill, et al., as determined by the Commissioner of Education, may operate without district participation agreements and enroll students from any district through a lottery designated by the commissioner. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, any tuition charged to a local or regional board of education by a regional educational service center operating such an interdistrict magnet school shall be in an amount equal to at least seventy-five per cent of the difference between the estimated per pupil cost less the state magnet grant pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-264l and any revenue from other sources as determined by the interdistrict magnet school operator. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, any tuition charged to a local or regional board of education by a regional educational service center operating an interdistrict magnet school for any student enrolled in such interdistrict magnet school shall be in an amount equal to at least ninety per cent of the difference between (1) the average per pupil expenditure of the magnet school for the prior fiscal year, and (2) the amount of any per pupil state subsidy calculated under subsection (c) of [this] section 10-264l plus any revenue from other sources calculated on a per pupil basis. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, and each fiscal year thereafter, any tuition charged to a local or regional board of education by a regional educational service center operating an interdistrict magnet school for any student enrolled in such interdistrict magnet school shall be in an amount equal to the difference between (A) the average per pupil expenditure of the magnet school for the prior fiscal year, and (B) the amount of any per pupil state subsidy calculated under subsection (c) of [this] section 10-264l plus any revenue from other sources calculated on a per pupil basis. If any such board of education fails to pay such tuition, the commissioner may withhold from such board's town or towns a sum payable under section 10-262i in an amount not to exceed the amount of the unpaid tuition to the magnet school and pay such money to the fiscal agent for the magnet school as a supplementary grant for the operation of the interdistrict magnet school program. In no case shall the sum of such tuitions exceed the difference between (i) the total expenditures of the magnet school for the prior fiscal year, and (ii) the total per pupil state subsidy calculated under subsection (c) of [this] section 10-264l plus any revenue from other sources. The commissioner may conduct a comprehensive review of the operating budget of a magnet school to verify such tuition rate.

Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 10-151 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2010):

(c) The contract of employment of a teacher who has not attained tenure may be terminated at any time for any of the reasons enumerated in subdivisions (1) to (6), inclusive, of subsection (d) of this section; otherwise the contract of such teacher shall be continued into the next school year unless such teacher receives written notice by [April] May first in one school year that such contract will not be renewed for the following year. Upon the teacher's written request, a notice of nonrenewal or termination shall be supplemented within seven days after receipt of the request by a statement of the reason or reasons for such nonrenewal or termination. Such teacher, upon written request filed with the board of education within twenty days after the receipt of notice of termination, or nonrenewal shall be entitled to a hearing, except as provided in this subsection, (A) before the board, (B) if indicated in such request and if designated by the board, before an impartial hearing panel established and conducted in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, or (C) if the parties mutually agree before a single impartial hearing officer chosen by the teacher and the superintendent in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section. Such hearing shall commence within fifteen days after receipt of such request unless the parties mutually agree to an extension not to exceed fifteen days. The impartial hearing panel or officer or a subcommittee of the board of education, if the board of education designates a subcommittee of three or more board members to conduct hearings, shall submit written findings and recommendations to the board for final disposition. The teacher shall have the right to appear with counsel of the teacher's choice at the hearing. A teacher who has not attained tenure shall not be entitled to a hearing concerning nonrenewal if the reason for such nonrenewal is either elimination of position or loss of position to another teacher. The board of education shall rescind a nonrenewal decision only if the board finds such decision to be arbitrary and capricious. Any such teacher whose contract is terminated for the reasons enumerated in subdivisions (3) and (4) of subsection (d) of this section shall have the right to appeal in accordance with the provisions of subsection (e) of this section.

Sec. 3. Section 10-66gg of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

[Within] Not later than January 1, 2011, and biennially thereafter, within available appropriations, the Commissioner of Education shall [annually,] review and report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, on the operation of such charter schools as may be established pursuant to sections 10-66aa to 10-66ff, inclusive, as amended by this act, to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education. Such report shall include: (1) Recommendations for any statutory changes that would facilitate expansion in the number of charter schools; (2) a compilation of school profiles pursuant to section 10-66cc; (3) an assessment of the adequacy of funding pursuant to section 10-66ee; [,] and (4) the adequacy and availability of suitable facilities for such schools.

Sec. 4. Subsection (d) of section 10-266w of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(d) Each local and regional board of education participating in the grant program shall prepare a financial statement of expenditures [which] that shall be submitted to the department [on or before September first of the fiscal year immediately following each fiscal year in which the school district participates in the grant program] annually at such time and in such manner as prescribed by the Commissioner of Education. If the commissioner finds that any school breakfast grant recipient uses such grant for purposes which are not in conformity with the purposes of this section, the commissioner [may] shall require repayment of the grant to the state.

Sec. 5. Subsection (c) of section 10-19m of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2010):

(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] 2010, and [annually] biennially thereafter, report to the General Assembly on the referral or diversion of children under the age of seventeen years from the juvenile justice system and on the referral or diversion of children aged seventeen 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.

Sec. 6. Subsection (c) of section 10-19m of the 2010 supplement to the general statutes, as amended by section 89 of public act 09-7 of the September special session, is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2012):

(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] 2010, and [annually] biennially thereafter, report to the General Assembly on the referral or diversion of children under the age of eighteen years from the juvenile justice system and 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.

Sec. 7. (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a task force to conduct an investigational study of the efficacy of postural screenings for each pupil in grades five to nine, inclusive, pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-214 of the general statutes. The task force shall consider whether legislative changes to section 10-214 of the general statutes are necessary and whether to eliminate the requirement that such postural screenings be conducted on an annual basis.

(b) The task force shall consist of the following members:

(1) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, or their designees;

(2) The chairpersons and ranking members of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health, or their designees;

(3) A member of the Association of School Nurses of Connecticut appointed by the speaker of the House of Representatives;

(4) A member of the American Academy of Pediatrics appointed by the president pro tempore of the Senate;

(5) A representative of school medical advisors appointed by the majority leader of the House of Representatives;

(6) An orthopedic physician appointed by the majority leader of the Senate;

(7) A representative of school nurse supervisors appointed by the minority leader of the House of Representatives;

(8) A parent of a child diagnosed with scoliosis appointed by the minority leader of the Senate;

(9) The Commissioner of Education, or the commissioner's designee; and

(10) The Commissioner of Public Health, or the commissioner's designee.

(c) All appointments to the task force shall be made not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section. Any vacancy shall be filled by the appointing authority.

(d) The chairperson of the task force shall be appointed by its members. Such chairpersons shall schedule the first meeting of the task force, which shall be held not later than sixty days after the effective date of this section.

(e) The administrative staff of the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education shall serve as administrative staff of the task force.

(f) Not later than January 1, 2011, the task force shall submit a report on its findings and recommendations to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education and public health, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes. The task force shall terminate on the date that it submits such report or January 1, 2011, whichever is later.

Statement of Purpose:

To change the Commissioner of Education's reporting requirement on the operation of charter schools from annually to biennially; to amend the reporting requirement that local school boards submit a financial statement of expenditures for their participation in the school breakfast grant program; to reduce the Youth Service Bureau reporting requirement from annually to biennially; to establish a task force to conduct an investigational study of the efficacy of the mandatory annual postural screenings for students in grades five to nine, inclusive.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]