Bill Text: CT SB00255 | 2014 | General Assembly | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: An Act Concerning Unified School District #3.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-04-19 - House Calendar Number 422 [SB00255 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-SB00255-Comm_Sub.html

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General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 255
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 1330
		*_____SB00255PH____031114____*
Referred to Committee on PUBLIC HEALTH
Introduced by:
(PH)

AN ACT CONCERNING UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT #3.

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

Section 1. Subsection (d) of section 5-259d of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

(d) No state employee shall be deemed ineligible for any benefit under this section or under any other provision of this chapter solely because such employee's leave time is classified as recess or other equivalent leave time rather than vacation time pursuant to the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, including a collective bargaining agreement covering a state employee in a teaching, instructional or professional position in Unified School District #1 [,] or #2 or, prior to July 1, 2014, Unified School District #3.

Sec. 2. Section 10-15d of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

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 [,] and 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 Developmental Services.] 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 technical high 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. 3. Subdivisions (2) and (3) of subsection (e) of section 10-76d of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

(2) For purposes of this subdivision, "public agency" includes the offices of a government of a federally recognized Native American tribe. Notwithstanding any other provisions of the general statutes, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1987, and each fiscal year thereafter, whenever a public agency, other than a local or regional board of education, the State Board of Education or the Superior Court acting pursuant to section 10-76h, places a child in a foster home, group home, hospital, state institution, receiving home, custodial institution or any other residential or day treatment facility, and such child requires special education, the local or regional board of education under whose jurisdiction the child would otherwise be attending school or, if no such board can be identified, the local or regional board of education of the town where the child is placed, shall provide the requisite special education and related services to such child in accordance with the provisions of this section. Within one business day of such a placement by the Department of Children and Families or offices of a government of a federally recognized Native American tribe, said department or offices shall orally notify the local or regional board of education responsible for providing special education and related services to such child of such placement. The department or offices shall provide written notification to such board of such placement within two business days of the placement. Such local or regional board of education shall convene a planning and placement team meeting for such child within thirty days of the placement and shall invite a representative of the Department of Children and Families or offices of a government of a federally recognized Native American tribe to participate in such meeting. (A) The local or regional board of education under whose jurisdiction such child would otherwise be attending school shall be financially responsible for the reasonable costs of such special education and related services in an amount equal to the lesser of one hundred per cent of the costs of such education or the average per pupil educational costs of such board of education for the prior fiscal year, determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 10-76f. The State Board of Education shall pay on a current basis, except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, any costs in excess of such local or regional board's basic contributions paid by such board of education in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision. (B) Whenever a child is placed pursuant to this subdivision, on or after July 1, 1995, by the Department of Children and Families and the local or regional board of education under whose jurisdiction such child would otherwise be attending school cannot be identified, the local or regional board of education under whose jurisdiction the child attended school or in whose district the child resided at the time of removal from the home by said department shall be responsible for the reasonable costs of special education and related services provided to such child, for one calendar year or until the child is committed to the state pursuant to section 46b-129 or 46b-140 or is returned to the child's parent or guardian, whichever is earlier. If the child remains in such placement beyond one calendar year the Department of Children and Families shall be responsible for such costs. During the period the local or regional board of education is responsible for the reasonable cost of special education and related services pursuant to this subparagraph, the board shall be responsible for such costs in an amount equal to the lesser of one hundred per cent of the costs of such education and related services or the average per pupil educational costs of such board of education for the prior fiscal year, determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 10-76f. The State Board of Education shall pay on a current basis, except as provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection, any costs in excess of such local or regional board's basic contributions paid by such board of education in accordance with the provisions of this subdivision. The costs for services other than educational shall be paid by the state agency which placed the child. The provisions of this subdivision shall not apply to the school districts established within the Department of Children and Families, pursuant to section 17a-37 [,] or the Department of Correction, pursuant to section 18-99a, [or the Department of Developmental Services, pursuant to section 17a-240,] provided in any case in which special education is being provided at a private residential institution, including the residential components of regional educational service centers, to a child for whom no local or regional board of education can be found responsible under subsection (b) of this section, Unified School District #2 shall provide the special education and related services and be financially responsible for the reasonable costs of such special education instruction for such children. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2004, to June 30, 2007, inclusive, and for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2010, to June 30, 2015, inclusive, the amount of the grants payable to local or regional boards of education in accordance with this subdivision shall be reduced proportionately if the total of such grants in such year exceeds the amount appropriated for the purposes of this subdivision for such year.

(3) Payment for children who require special education and who reside on state-owned or leased property, and who are not the educational responsibility of the unified school districts established pursuant to section 17a-37 [, section 17a-240] or section 18-99a, shall be made in the following manner: The State Board of Education shall pay to the school district which is responsible for providing instruction for each such child pursuant to the provisions of this subsection one hundred per cent of the reasonable costs of such instruction. In the fiscal year following such payment, the State Board of Education shall deduct from the special education grant due the local or regional board of education under whose jurisdiction the child would otherwise be attending school, where such board has been identified, the amount for which such board would otherwise have been financially responsible pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection. No such deduction shall be made for any school district which is responsible for providing special education instruction for children whose parents or legal guardians do not reside within such district. The amount deducted shall be included as a net cost of special education by the Department of Education for purposes of the state's special education grant calculated pursuant to section 10-76g, as amended by this act. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subdivision, for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2004, and June 30, 2005, and for the fiscal years ending June 30, 2012, and June 30, 2013, the amount of the grants payable to local or regional boards of education in accordance with this subdivision shall be reduced proportionately if the total of such grants in such year exceeds the amount appropriated for the purposes of this subdivision for such year.

Sec. 4. Subsection (b) of section 10-76g of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2014):

(b) Any local or regional board of education which provides special education pursuant to the provisions of sections 10-76a to 10-76g, inclusive, as amended by this act, for any exceptional child described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (5) of section 10-76a, under its jurisdiction, excluding (1) children placed by a state agency for whom a board of education receives payment pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (2) of subsection (e) of section 10-76d, as amended by this act, and (2) children who require special education, who reside on state-owned or leased property, and who are not the educational responsibility of the unified school districts established pursuant to sections 17a-37 [, 17a-240] and 18-99a, shall be financially responsible for the reasonable costs of special education instruction, as defined in the regulations of the State Board of Education, in an amount equal to (A) for any fiscal year commencing prior to July 1, 2005, five times the average per pupil educational costs of such board of education for the prior fiscal year, determined in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of section 10-76f, and (B) for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2005, and each fiscal year thereafter, four and one-half times such average per pupil educational costs of such board of education. The State Board of Education shall pay on a current basis any costs in excess of the local or regional board's basic contribution paid by such board in accordance with the provisions of this subsection. Any amounts paid by the State Board of Education on a current basis pursuant to this subsection shall not be reimbursable in the subsequent year. Application for such grant shall be made by filing with the Department of Education, in such manner as prescribed by the commissioner, annually on or before December first a statement of the cost of providing special education pursuant to this subsection, provided a board of education may submit, not later than March first, claims for additional children or costs not included in the December filing. Payment by the state for such excess costs shall be made to the local or regional board of education as follows: Seventy-five per cent of the cost in February and the balance in May. The amount due each town pursuant to the provisions of this subsection shall be paid to the treasurer of each town entitled to such aid, provided the treasurer shall treat such grant, or a portion of the grant, which relates to special education expenditures incurred in excess of such town's board of education budgeted estimate of such expenditures, as a reduction in expenditures by crediting such expenditure account, rather than town revenue. Such expenditure account shall be so credited no later than thirty days after receipt by the treasurer of necessary documentation from the board of education indicating the amount of such special education expenditures incurred in excess of such town's board of education budgeted estimate of such expenditures.

Sec. 5. Sections 17a-239 to 17a-241, inclusive, and section 17a-244 of the general statutes are repealed. (Effective July 1, 2014)

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	July 1, 2014	5-259d(d)
Sec. 2	July 1, 2014	10-15d
Sec. 3	July 1, 2014	10-76d(e)(2) and (3)
Sec. 4	July 1, 2014	10-76g(b)
Sec. 5	July 1, 2014	Repealer section

PH

Joint Favorable