Today’s bills filed in the General Assembly include Raised Bill 5833, a proposed amendment to Connecticut General Statutes Section 53a-119, which would add as a felony criminal charge “obtaining school accommodations by misrepresenting a child’s residence”. This would be defined as a parent, guardian or person acting on behalf of such person (or student if over the age of 18), intentionally misrepresenting the town of residence of the child, with the intent to obtain school accommodations from a school district other than the one in which the child resides.
Although other sections of the criminal code relating to theft of public goods have been cited in connection with the arrest of parents in connection with this type of offense, this would make it clear that such conduct is a criminal offense without having to rely on an interpretation of another more general section of the criminal code. This bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee.
For other new bills filed, read on…
Raised Bill 5820 would amend Connecticut General Statutes Section 10-221a to allow high school students to obtain up to two (2) foreign language credits by taking courses through a private (nonprofit) provider and passing an exam prescribed by the State Department of Education.
Raised Bill 5821 would amend PA-07-3 passed in the June special session to allow the Connecticut Distance Learning Consortium to deliver Advanced Placement courses on line, provided that the Department of Education approves the content of the course, and would require locan and regional school districts to participate in the consortium.
Raised Bill 609 would amend Connecticut General Statutes Section 17a-101 to include school superintendents as mandated reporters in the State of Connecticut who are required to report suspected child abuse or neglect to the appropriate State authorities.
Raised Bill 611 would require every local and regional board of education to operate a recycling program at each school under the board’s jurisdiction, including provision of appropriate receptacles and appropriate disposal of recyclable materials. Types of recyclable materials and a minimum number of types to be included in the program are not defined; nor is there any reference to a contingency plan if the municipality of the town does not operate a recycling pick-up program.
Raised Bill 612 would amend Connecticut General Statutes Section 10-183b to include business administrators as “teachers” for purposes of participation in the state teachers’ retirement program, and would provide an opt-out provision this year for those business administrators who do not wish to participate.
Raised Bill 613 would amend Connecticut General Statutes Section 10-15 to provide for a uniform school year start date of the Wednesday after Labor Day for every public school in the state.
Have a comment? Make your voices heard by adding your comments to this blog, and don’t forget to contact your legislator(s) directly. With the exception of the first bill regarding the criminal charge for residency misrepresentation, each of the other bills reported today has been referred to the Committee on Education.