Duties of local and regional boards of education re school attendance. Hearings. Appeals to state board. Establishment of hearing board. Readmission. Transfers. (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 technical education and career school may attend public school, except as provided in section 10-233c and subsection (d) of section 10-233d.

Sec. 10-233c - G. In-School Suspension of Pupils. Reassignment

(g) On and after July 1, 2015, all suspensions pursuant to this section shall be in-school suspensions, except a local or regional board of education may authorize the administration of schools under its direction to impose an out-of-school suspension on any pupil in (1) grades three to twelve, inclusive, if, during the hearing held pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, (A) the administration determines that the pupil being suspended poses such a danger to persons or property or such a disruption of the educational process that the pupil shall be excluded from school during the period of suspension, or (B) the administration determines that an out-of-school suspension is appropriate for such pupil based on evidence of (i) previous disciplinary problems that have led to suspensions or expulsion of such pupil, and (ii) efforts by the administration to address such disciplinary problems through means other than out-of-school suspension or expulsion, including positive behavioral support strategies, or (2) grades preschool to two, inclusive, if during the hearing held pursuant to subsection (a) of this section, the administration determines that an out-of-school suspension is appropriate for such pupil based on evidence that such pupil's conduct on school grounds is of a violent or sexual nature that endangers persons. An in-school suspension may be served in the school that the pupil attends, or in any school building under the jurisdiction of the local or regional board of education, as determined by such board. Nothing in this section shall limit a person's duty as a mandated reporter pursuant to section 17-101a to report suspected child abuse or neglect.

Sec. 10-233f. In-school suspension of pupils. Reassignment. (a) Any local or regional board of education may authorize the administration of schools under its direction to impose an in-school suspension on any pupil whose conduct endangers persons or property or is seriously disruptive of the educational process, or is violative of a publicized policy of such board. No pupil shall be placed in in-school suspension without an informal hearing before the building principal or such principal's designee at which such pupil shall be informed of the reasons for the disciplinary action and given an opportunity to explain the situation, provided no pupil shall be placed in in-school suspension more than fifteen times or a total of fifty days in one school year, whichever results in fewer days of exclusion.

Please follow the following link to read Executive Order No. 56 in its entirety. 

Executive Order 56

For the scholl year commencing July 1, 2023, and each school year thereafter, a student who is eighteen years of age or older may withdraw from school. Such parent, person or student shall personally appear at the school district office and sign a withdrawal form. Such withdrawal form shall include an attestation from a guidance counselor, school counselor or school administrator of the school that such school district has provided such parent, person or student with information on the educational options available in the school system and in the community.

Special Note Regarding 17-Year Olds Effective July 1, 2023

The parent or person having control of a child seventeen years of age may withdraw such child from school and enroll such child in an adult education program pursuant to section 10-69. Such parent or person shall personally appear at the school district office and sign an adult education withdrawal and enrollment form. Such adult education withdrawal and enrollment form shall include an attestation (1) from a school counselor or school administrator of the school that such school district has provided suhc parent or person with information on the educational options available in the school system and in the community, and (2) from such parent or person that such child will be enrolled in an adult eduation program upon such child's withdrawal from school.*

*Exit type 21 - Discontinued schooling can no longer be used for 17-year-old students. 

The public schools shall be open to all children five years of age and over . . . and each such child shall have, and shall be so advised by the appropriate school authorities, an equal opportunity to participate in the activities, programs and courses of study offered in such public schools . . . without discrimination on account of race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq.) prohibits sex discrimination in education and in employment.

"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance."

Each school district shall provide in each school year no less than one hundred and eighty days of actual school sessions for grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, nine hundred hours of actual school work for full-day kindergarten and grades one to twelve, inclusive, and four hundred and fifty hours of half-day kindergarten, provided school districts shall not count more than seven hours of actual school work in any school day towards the total required for the school year. Remote learning shall be considered an actual school session for purposes of this section, provided such remote learning is conducted in compliance with the standards developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-4w. If weather conditions result in an early dismissal or a delayed opening of school, a school district which maintains separate morning and afternoon half-day kindergarten sessions may provide either a morning or afternoon half-day kindergarten session on such day. As used in this section, “remote learning” means instruction by means of one or more Internet-based software platforms as part of a remote learning model.

Student support and remedial services. Excusal from physical education requirement. Diplomas for certain veterans and certain persons assisting in the war effort during World War II. Student success plans. Connecticut State Seal of Biliteracy.

(f) Determination of eligible credits shall be at the discretion of the local or regional board of education, provided the primary focus of the curriculum of eligible credits corresponds directly to the subject matter of the specified course requirements. The local or regional board of education may permit a student to graduate during a period of expulsion pursuant to section 10-233d, if the board determines the student has satisfactorily completed the necessary credits pursuant to this section. The requirements of this section shall apply to any student requiring special education pursuant to section 10-76a, except when the planning and placement team for such student determines the requirement not to be appropriate. For purposes of this section, a credit shall consist of not less than the equivalent of a forty-minute class period for each school day of a school year except for a credit or part of a credit toward high school graduation earned (1) at an institution accredited by the Board of Regents for Higher Education or Office of Higher Education or regionally accredited, (2) through on-line coursework that is in accordance with a policy adopted pursuant to subsection (g) of this section, or (3) through a demonstration of mastery based on competency and performance standards, in accordance with guidelines adopted by the State Board of Education.

Math = 40 x 180 / 60 = A MINIMUM of 120 Hours

Sec. 10-16. Length of school year. Each school district shall provide in each school year no less than one hundred and eighty days of actual school sessions for grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, nine hundred hours of actual school work for full-day kindergarten and grades one to twelve, inclusive, and four hundred and fifty hours of half-day kindergarten, provided school districts shall not count more than seven hours of actual school work in any school day towards the total required for the school year. Remote learning shall be considered an actual school session for purposes of this section, provided such remote learning is conducted in compliance with the standards developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-4w. If weather conditions result in an early dismissal or a delayed opening of school, a school district which maintains separate morning and afternoon half-day kindergarten sessions may provide either a morning or afternoon half-day kindergarten session on such day. As used in this section, “remote learning” means instruction by means of one or more Internet-based software platforms as part of a remote learning model.

Sec. 10-221j. Student Success Plan

(j) For the school year commencing July 1, 2012, and each school year thereafter, each local and regional board of education shall create a student success plan for each student enrolled in a public school, beginning in grade six. Such student success plan shall include a student's career and academic choices in grades six to twelve, inclusive.

Sec. 10-148a. Professional development for certified employees. 

(a) For the school year commencing July 1, 2021, and each school year thereafter, each certified employee shall participate in a program of professional development. Each local and regional board of education shall make available, annually, at no cost to its certified employees, a program of professional development that is not fewer than eighteen hours in length, of which a preponderance is in a small group or individual instructional setting. Such program of professional development shall (1) be a comprehensive, sustained and intensive approach to improving teacher and administrator effectiveness in increasing student knowledge achievement, (2) focus on refining and improving various effective teaching methods that are shared between and among educators, (3) foster collective responsibility for improved student performance, (4) be comprised of professional learning that (A) is aligned with rigorous state student academic achievement standards, (B) is conducted among educators at the school and facilitated by principals, coaches, mentors, distinguished educators, as described in section 10-145s, or other appropriate teachers, (C) occurs frequently on an individual basis or among groups of teachers in a job-embedded process of continuous improvement, and (D) includes a repository of best practices for teaching methods developed by educators within each school that is continuously available to such educators for comment and updating, and (5) include training in culturally responsive pedagogy and practice. Each program of professional development shall include professional development activities in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section. The principles and practices of social-emotional learning and restorative practices shall be integrated throughout the components of such program of professional development described in subdivisions (1) to (5), inclusive, of this subsection.

(b) Local and regional boards of education shall offer professional development activities to certified employees as part of the plan developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-220a or for any individual certified employee. Such professional development activities may be made available by a board of education directly, through a regional educational service center or cooperative arrangement with another board of education or through arrangements with any professional development provider approved by the Commissioner of Education and shall be consistent with any goals identified by the certified employees and the local or regional board of education.

State Guidance on Mental Health Days:  The new legislation is as follows: 

 Sec. 19. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2021) 

(a) As used in this section and section 10-198b of the general statutes, as amended by this act, "mental health wellness day" describes a school day during which a student attends to such student's emotional and psychological well-being in lieu of attending school. 

(b) For the school year commencing July 1, 2021, and each school year thereafter, a local or regional board of education shall permit any student enrolled in grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, to take two mental health wellness days during the school year, during which day such student shall not be required to attend school. No student shall take mental health wellness days during consecutive school days.

When tracking MHW absences, district policies should consider the following: 

1. Students are limited to two MHW days per school year; 

2. MHW days cannot be taken on consecutive school days, (e.g., Friday and Monday, Wednesday and Thursday); 

3. MHW absences should always be excused when parent or guardian permission is documented, regardless of the number of absences a student has accrued in the school year (i.e., Level 1 or Level 2) as per the Guidelines for Implementation of the Definitions of Excused and Unexcused Absences)*; 

4. MHW absences should not be included in reporting or referrals related to truancy; 5. MHW absences will count towards chronic absence calculations as students are missing opportunities to learn; and 6. Districts are encouraged to create codes in their student information systems for tracking and monitoring use of MHW days.

Sec. 10-220d. Student recruitment by regional and interdistrict specialized schools and programs. Recruitment of athletes prohibited. Information re and notice of availability of certain schools and education centers. Each local and regional board of education shall provide full access to technical education and career schools, regional agricultural science and technology education centers, interdistrict magnet schools, charter schools and interdistrict student attendance programs for the recruitment of students attending the schools under the board's jurisdiction, provided such recruitment is not for the purpose of interscholastic athletic competition. Each local and regional board of education shall provide information relating to technical education and career schools, regional agricultural science and technology education centers, interdistrict magnet schools, charter schools, alternative high schools and interdistrict student attendance programs on the board's web site. Each local and regional board of education shall inform students and parents of students in middle and high schools within such board's jurisdiction of the availability of (1) vocational, technical, technological and postsecondary education and training at technical education and career schools, and (2) agricultural science and technology education at regional agricultural science and technology education centers.

Sec. 10-220h. Transfer of student records. 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 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.