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Connecticut Education Law Blog

OSEP Issues Policy Guidance Letters Clarifying School District Obligations Related to Mandatory Assessments, Preschool Programming and Record Keeping

The United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services (OSERS) recently issued several policy guidance letters addressing important issues related to state and districtwide assessments, preschool programming, and disagreements during Planning and Placement Team (PPT) meetings, known under federal law as IEP team meetings.  While informal and nonbinding, these concise and digestible […]

Connecticut State Board of Education Adopts Educational Standards for Expelled Students

The Connecticut State Board of Education (State Board) adopted Standards for Educational Opportunities for Students Who Have been Expelled (Standards) onJanuary 3, 2018. The State Board acted in response to P.A. 17-200, An Act Concerning Education Mandate Relief, containing a directive that the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) adopt such standards. The Standards delineate two permissible options […]

State Supreme Court Rules That Education Funding Meets Minimum Adequacy Standard; No Equal Protection Violation Against Students from Neediest School Districts

On Wednesday, January 17, the Connecticut Supreme Court issued its highly anticipated decision regarding the adequacy of education funding from the State.  In Connecticut Coalition for Justice in Education Funding, Inc. v. Rell, 2018 WL 472325 (2018), the court ruled that the State met its obligation to provide “minimally adequate” funding to school districts across Connecticut, and did […]

State Supreme Court Holds that Private School had Duty to Warn and Protect Students Against Risk of Serious Insect-Borne Disease When Organizing Trip Abroad

On August 11, 2017, the State of Connecticut Supreme Court delivered its decision in Munn v. Hotchkiss School, SC 19525 (Conn. 2017), holding that the state’s public policy does not preclude imposing a duty on a school to warn about or protect students against the risk of a serious insect-borne disease when organizing a trip […]

Rosa’s Law 2017 Federal Regulation Updates

Beginning August 10, 2017, the regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (“Section 504”), 34 C.F.R. Part 104, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (“the IDEA”), 34 C.F.R. Part 300, will be revised to change references to “mental retardation” to “intellectual disability.”  The revisions are being made pursuant to Public Law […]

Is Your Website Handicap Accessible?

It is illegal for public entities to discriminate against individuals with disabilities.  No one disputes this premise.  But did you know that if your website does not meet certain standards of accessibility you could be the subject of a complaint and investigation by OCR? In 2010, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights […]

U.S. Supreme Court: Exhaustion of administrative remedies under the IDEA not required for disability discrimination claim if claim does not involve denial of FAPE

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students with disabilities access to a free appropriate public education (FAPE) and establishes a formal administrative framework within which disputes concerning the denial of FAPE are addressed. In addition, other federal statutes, such as the Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and § 504 […]

Connecticut Swiftly Responds to Federal Rollback of Transgender Student Protections

Connecticut Governor Dannel P. Malloy has acted quickly to respond to recent developments in Federal law affecting the rights of transgender students by issuing an executive order reasserting the State’s protections for transgender people.  Despite a change in Federal guidance, and as detailed below, Connecticut affords greater protections to transgender people than currently provided under […]

The United States Department of Justice Withdraws Its Objection to a Nationwide Order Banning the Implementation and Enforcement of the Departments of Justice and Education’s Guidance on Transgender Students

On February 10, 2017, the U. S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Trump administration withdrew a motion made in November 2016 under the Obama administration with the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit; in its motion, the DOJ objected to a Texas Federal Court judge’s nationwide ban on the enforcement by the […]