SB 138 — AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

493Such 6report sSB138shall Fileinclude, but not be limited to, (A) the accountability index score, as defined in section 10-223e, for the school, (B) trends for the accountability indices during the period that such schools are participating in the commissioner's network of schools, (C) adjustments for subgroups of students at such schools, including, but not limited to, Public Act No.

49326-106 Commissioner6 of Education9 shallSubstitute annuallySenate submitBill aNo. report comparing and analyzing the academic performance of all the schools participating in the commissioner's network of schools to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a.

Such138 report shall include, but not be limited to, (A) the accountability index score, as defined in section 10-223e, for the school, (B) trends for the accountability indices during the period that such schools are participating in the commissioner's network of schools, (C) adjustments for subgroups of students at such schools, including, but not limited to, students whose primary language is not English, students receiving special education services and students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunches, and (D) performance evaluation results in the aggregate for teachers and administrators at such schools.

[(5)] (3) Not later than February first each year, the Commissioner of Education shall present the items submitted pursuant to subdivisions (1) [to (4), inclusive,] and (2) of this subsection to the joint standing sSB138committee /of Filethe No.General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education.

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493 committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education.

7.6.

Section 10-226h of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective from passage):

(a) A local or regional board of education for purposes of subdivision (3) of section 10-4a, may offer such programs or use such methods as:

(1) Interdistrict magnet school programs;

(2) charter schools;

(3) interdistrict after-school, Saturday and summer programs and sister- school projects;

(4) intradistrict and interdistrict public school choice programs;

(5) interdistrict school building projects;

(6) interdistrict program collaboratives for students and staff;

(7) distance learning through the use of technology;

and (8) any other experience that increases awareness of the diversity of individuals and cultures.

(b)Eachlocalandregionalboardofeducationshallreport by October 1, 2012, and biennially thereafter, to the Commissioner of Education on the programs and activities undertaken in its school district to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation, including (1) information on the number and duration of such programs and activities and the number of students and staff involved, and (2) evidence of the progress over time in the reduction of racial, ethnic and economic isolation.

[(c) The Commissioner of Education shall report, by January 1, 1999, and biennially thereafter, in accordance with section 11-4a, to the Governor and the General Assembly on activities and programs designed to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation.

The report shall include statistics on any growth in such programs or expansion of such activities over time, an analysis of the success of such programs and activities in reducing racial, ethnic and economic isolation, a recommendation for any statutory changes that would assist in the expansion of such programs and activities and the sufficiency of the annual grant pursuant to subsection (e) of section 10-266aa and whether additional financial incentives would improve the program established pursuant to section 10-266aa.] sSB138 / File No.

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493 Sec.

8.

[(a)] The State Board of Education shall adopt grade kindergarten to gradetwelve,inclusive,computertechnologycompetencystandardsfor studentsPublic byAct JulyNo. 1, 2001.

26-106 7 of 9 Substitute Senate Bill No.

138 students by July 1, 2001.

9.7.

If the findings of the committee support the feasibility and desirability of establishing a regional school district, its report shall contain (1) the findings of the committee with respect to theadvisability of establishing a regional school district, (2) the towns to be included, (3) the grade levels for which educational programs are to be provided, (4) detailed educational and budget plans for at least a five-year period including projections of enrollments, staff needs and deployment and a sSB138description /of Fileall programs and supportive services planned for the proposed regional school district, provided such budget plan shall, Public Act No.

49326-106 8 of 9 sSB138Substitute FileSenate Bill No.

493138 description of all programs and supportive services planned for the proposed regional school district, provided such budget plan shall, when feasible, be reviewed or audited by an independent third party to determine the viability of such budget plan, (5) the facilities recommended, (6) estimates of the cost of land and facilities, (7) a recommendation concerning the capital contribution of each participating town based on appraisals or a negotiated valuation of existing land and facilities owned and used by each town for public elementary andsecondary educationwhichthe committee recommends be acquired for use by the proposed regional school district, together with a plan for the transfer of such land and facilities, (8) a recommendation concerning the size of the board of education to serve the proposed regional school district and the representation of each town thereon, (9) a consideration of transportation costs associated with the establishment of such regional school district, and [(9)] (10) such other matters as the committee deems pertinent.

Sec.Governor's Action:

10.Approved June 4, 2026 Public Act No.

Section26-106 10-146h9 of the9 general statutes is repealed.

(Effective from passage) This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2026 10-66bb(b) and (c) Sec.

2 July 1, 2026 10-264l(h)(2) July 1, 2026 Sec.

3 10-264i(a)(4) Sec.

4 from passage 10-66q Sec.

5 from passage 10-94l Sec.

6 from passage 10-223h(i) and (j) Sec.

7 from passage 10-226h Sec.

8 from passage 10-262p sSB138 / File No.

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493 Sec.

9 from passage 10-43(a) Sec.

10 from passage Repealer section ED Joint Favorable Subst.

sSB138 / File No.

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493 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ Various Local and Regional See Below See Below See Below School Districts Explanation The bill makes various changes to education statutes, resulting in the fiscal impacts described below by section.

Section 1 aligns the charter school approval process with the biennial budget process, in FY 28.

This allows greater coordination between the State Board of Education (SBE) charter school approval process and the biennial state budget.

Section 2 requires a receiving magnet school to pay for costs related to 504 student plans, rather than the sending district, beginning in FY 27.

This results in a potential cost to boards of education and regional educational service centers (RESCs) that operate magnet schools, and a corresponding potential savings to sending districts.

Most 504 student plans involve no-cost classroom accommodations (e.g., extra time on exams, sitting in a certain location in the classroom, etc.).

There may be costs for students who require medical or technology supports under their 504 plan.

Section 3 changes, beginning in FY 27, the payment schedule for the Sheff magnet transportation grant to CREC, a RESC.

The bill requires that theOctober 31 payment to beareimbursement for allcostsincurred sSB138 / File No.

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493 before that date, rather than one half of the total estimated transportation costs for the school year.

This results in CREC receiving a lower payment amount at the October 31 payment, but it does not change the total grant received for the fiscal year.

Sections 4 – 8 and 10 repeal various reporting requirements for the State Department of Education (SDE), resulting in no fiscal impact as it is expected any time that would have been spent on the reports will be used to meet current reporting requirements.

Section 9 requires, when feasible, that thebudget plan for aproposed regional school district be reviewed by an independent third party to determine viability.

This results in a potential cost to towns considering regionalizing associated with the third party review.

The cost is dependent on a regional school committee being formed and any fees charged by the reviewer.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to inflation.

sSB138 / File No.

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493 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 138 AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION.

SUMMARY This bill makes various unrelated changes to education law including:

1.

aligning the approval process for new charter schools with the governor’s biennial budget process, rather than the annual process as under current law (§ 1);

2.

making a receiving interdistrict magnet school responsible for the costs of a student’s services under a Section 504 accommodation plan (see BACKGROUND) rather than the sending school district as under current law (§ 2);

3.

requiring the State Department of Education (SDE) to pay transportation grants for Sheff region (see BACKGROUND) magnet schools operated by regional educational service centers (RESCs) in an amount equal to the actual cost incurred or paid by the RESC on or before October 31 of the fiscal year, rather than half of the total estimated cost by this date as under current law (§ 3);

and 4.

amending what must be in the report by a regional school study committee supporting the district’s creation as part of the planning process to consider forming a regional school district (§ 9).

The bill also repeals various annual (unless frequency otherwise noted) reports that SDE must currently submit to the Education Committee, or other General Assembly committees (noted below), sSB138 / File No.

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493 including those for:

1.

school boards that have adopted the uniform regional school calendar and any related recommendations (§ 4);

2.

the surrogate parent program (a joint program with the Department of Children and Families) also submitted to the Committee on Children (§ 5);

3.

the commissioner’s network of schools program reports that are required at certain steps of the process including (a) a one-time report on the turnaround plan for a school participating in the program, (b) a report analyzing the academic performance of all schools in the program, and (c) a final report at the conclusion of the turnaround plan evaluating the plan and performance for each participating school (§ 6);

4.

activities and programs designed to reduce racial, ethnic, and economic isolation based on information received from school districts (reported biennially to the governor and General Assembly) (§ 7);

5.

the status of educational technology in the public schools (reported biennially to the General Assembly) (§ 8);

and 6.

the quality of teacher preparation programs in Connecticut to the Education and Higher Education and Employment Advancement committees (§ 10).

EFFECTIVE DATE:

Upon passage except the provisions on charter schools, 504 plans, and magnet school transportation grant payments are effective July 1, 2026.

CHARTER SCHOOL APPROVAL PROCESS Current law requires the State Board of Education (SBE) to annually review all new charter school applications and grant initial certificates of approval for local and state charter schools (see BACKGROUND).

The bill eliminates the requirement that SBE do so annually.

sSB138 / File No.

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493 Starting with the biennium beginning July 1, 2027, the bill requires the SDE commissioner to ensure that the timing for granting initial certificates of approvalfor charters coincides with the preparationofthe state budget for that biennium.

By law, a new school’s initial certificate of approval only takes effect as a full charter when the legislature appropriates funds to SDE for its operation (specifically July 1 in the fiscal year for which the funds are appropriated).

State law allows non-profit organizations;

boards of education, either alone or jointly with another board;

and institutions of higher education, among others, to submit applications to start a new charter school.

SECTION 504 PLAN COST SHARING Under current law, if a student with a Section 504 accommodation plan attends an interdistrict magnet school, the school district where thatstudentresidesisresponsibleforpayingthecostdifferencebetween the (1) reasonable cost for educating the student and (2) amount an interdistrict magnet school gets under state law and from other state, federal, local, or private sources, calculated on a per-pupil basis.

The bill instead requires that the magnet school pay the cost difference.

TRANSPORTATION GRANTS TO CERTAIN RESCS SDE provides transportation grants to RESC-operated magnet schools that help the state meet its obligations under Sheff.

These grants must cover a RESC’s reasonable transportation costs, subject to a comprehensive financial review.

State law requires paying an amount equal to 50% of the estimated transportation costs by October 31 of the fiscal year and, unchanged by the bill, sets targets for covering all other eligible transportation costs (generally by paying most of the remaining amount by June 30 of that fiscal year).

The bill instead requires SDE to pay the actual transportation costs a RESC paid or incurred by October 31, while maintaining the existing framework for the remainder of the costs.

sSB138 / File No.

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493 (Presumably, the change means the grant will be paid after October 31 as the incurred costs cannot be determined until after October 31.) REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT STUDY REPORTING As part of the planning process to consider forming a regional school district, state law requires the creation of a regional school district study committee to evaluate the district’s feasibility and participants’ desire to move forward.

At the end of the study, the committee must report to SDE whether the district should or should not move forward.

If the committee believes it should, the report must address several factors, including detailed educational and budget plans for at least a five-year period including projected enrollments, staff needs and deployment, and a description of planned programs and supportive services.

The bill requires that, when feasible, the plan be reviewed or audited by an independent third party to determine its viability.

The bill also requires the report to consider the associated transportation costs in establishing the district.

BACKGROUND Local and State Charter Schools By law, local charter schools are part of the public school district wheretheyarelocatedbuthaveaseparatecouncilgoverningthecharter (currently, there is only one school like this in the state).

State charter schools are managed by private councils that are not affiliated with or under the control of any public board of education (CGS § 10-66bb(c), (e) & (f)).

Charter governing councils are made up of private citizens, rather than an elected board of education.

Section 504 Plans Section504 oftheRehabilitationAct of1973 (29U.S.C.

§ 794;

34 C.F.R.

§ 104.1 et seq.) protects people with disabilities from discrimination in programs and activities that get federal financial assistance, including public elementary and secondary schools and some private schools.

The law aims to eliminate barriers to a student’s access to public education sSB138 / File No.

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493 by providing reasonable accommodations.

The accommodations are agreed to ina planand commonly include things like more time for tests or assignments, guaranteeing access to all school resources, modified assignments, and the use of assistive technology.

These accommodations are generally expected to be less costly to a school district thanprovidingspecialeducationservicesto qualifying students.

Sheff v.

O’Neill State Supreme Court Decision In this decision, the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that the state had a constitutional obligation to remedy the educational inequities in Hartford schools caused by racial and ethnic isolation (Sheff v.

O’Neill, Conn.

1 (1996)).

The court ordered the state to craft a solution and the General Assembly enacted legislation to create voluntary desegregation in Hartford through magnet schools and other programs, such as Open Choice.

The “Sheff region” includes the school districts for the towns of Avon, Bloomfield, Canton, East Granby, East Hartford, East Windsor, Ellington, Farmington, Glastonbury, Granby, Hartford, Manchester, Newington, Rocky Hill, Simsbury, South Windsor, Suffield, Vernon, West Hartford, Wethersfield, Windsor, and Windsor Locks.

Commissioners Network of Schools Program The law requires schools with low-performing students that are selected for the program to (1) craft turnaround plans aimed at improving student achievement and (2) conduct an operations and instructional audit.

The program places the school under close SDE supervision while also providing additional resources (CGS § 10-223h).

COMMITTEE ACTION Education Committee Joint Favorable Substitute Yea 29 Nay 17 (03/18/2026) sSB138 / File No.

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