2012 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 10 - Education and Culture
Chapter 164 - Educational Opportunities
Section 10-17f - Duties of boards of education regarding bilingual education programs. Development of state English mastery standard. Regulations.

(a) Annually, the board of education for each local and regional school district shall ascertain, in accordance with regulations adopted by the State Board of Education, the eligible students in such school district and shall classify such students according to their dominant language.

(b) Whenever it is ascertained that there are in any public school within a local or regional school district twenty or more eligible students classified as dominant in any one language other than English, the board of education of such district shall provide a program of bilingual education for such eligible students for the school year next following. Eligible students shall be placed in such program in accordance with subsection (e) of this section.

(c) On or before July 1, 2000, the State Board of Education, within available appropriations, shall develop a state English mastery standard to assess the linguistic and academic progress of students in programs of bilingual education. On and after September 1, 2000, each local and regional board of education shall assess, annually, the progress made by each student toward meeting the state standard. If a student is not making sufficient progress toward meeting the state standard based on the assessment, the local or regional board of education shall provide language support services to the student in consultation with the parent or guardian of the student to allow the student to meet the state standard. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, summer school, after-school assistance and tutoring. If a student meets the state standard based on the assessment, the student shall leave the program. Each local and regional board of education shall document on a student’s permanent record the date the student begins in a program of bilingual education and the date and results of the assessments required pursuant to this subsection.

(d) Each local and regional board of education shall limit the time an eligible student spends in a program of bilingual education to thirty months, whether or not such months are consecutive, except that summer school and two-way language programs pursuant to subsection (i) of this section shall not be counted. If an eligible student does not meet the English mastery standard at the end of thirty months, the local or regional board of education shall provide language transition support services to such student. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, English as a second language programs, sheltered English programs, English immersion programs, tutoring and homework assistance, provided such services may not include a program of bilingual education. Families may also receive guidance from school professionals to help their children make progress in their native language. If an eligible student enrolls in a secondary school when the student has fewer than thirty months remaining before graduation, the local or regional board of education shall assign the student to an English as a second language program and may provide intensive services to the student to enable the student to speak, write and comprehend English by the time the student graduates and to meet the course requirements for graduation.

(e) Each local and regional board of education shall hold a meeting with the parents and legal guardians of eligible students to explain the benefits of the language program options available in the school district, including an English language immersion program. The parents and legal guardians may bring an interpreter or an advisor to the meeting. If the parent or legal guardian of an eligible student opts to have such student placed in a program of bilingual education, the local or regional board of education shall place the child in such program.

(f) The board of education for each local and regional school district which is required to provide a program of bilingual education shall initially endeavor to implement the provisions of subsection (b) of this section through in-service training for existing certified professional employees, and thereafter, shall give preference in hiring to such certified professional employees as are required to maintain the program.

(g) The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to establish requirements for: (1) Such programs, which may be modeled after policy established by the Department of Education for bilingual education programs; (2) local and regional boards of education to integrate bilingual and English as a second language program faculty in all staff, planning and curriculum development activities; and (3) all bilingual education teachers employed by a local or regional board of education, on and after July 1, 2001, to meet all certification requirements, including completion of a teacher preparation program approved by the State Board of Education, or to be certified through an alternate route to certification program.

(h) Each board of education for a local and regional school district which is required to provide for the first time a program of bilingual education shall prepare and submit to the Commissioner of Education for review a plan to implement such program, in accordance with regulations adopted by the State Board of Education.

(i) Each local and regional board of education that is required to provide a program of bilingual education pursuant to this section shall investigate the feasibility of establishing two-way language programs starting in kindergarten.

(P.A. 77-588, S. 2, 7; 77-614, S. 302, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85, 136; P.A. 98-168, S. 18, 26; P.A. 99-211, S. 2, 10; P.A. 00-220, S. 3, 43; P.A. 05-290, S. 2.)

History: P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 substituted commissioner of education for secretary of the state board of education, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 98-168 added new Subsec. (c) re parental notification for program exemption and redesignated the remaining Subsecs., effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-211 replaced existing Subsec. (c) with new Subsec. (c) re development of state English mastery standard, student assessment based on the standard and provision of support services for students not meeting the standard, relettered the existing Subsec. (d) as Subsec. (f) and added new Subsec. (d) re thirty-month limitation on time spent in a bilingual education program and language transition support services for students not meeting English mastery standard, relettered the existing Subsec. (e) as Subsec. (g), added new Subsec. (e) re meeting to explain language program options, amended Subsec. (g) to add Subdivs. (2) re integration of program staff and (3) re certification requirements, relettered the existing Subsec. (f) as Subsec. (h), added Subsec. (i) re investigation of feasibility of establishing two-way language programs and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-220 amended Subsec. (a) to make a technical change, effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 05-290 amended Subsec. (d) by providing that language transition support services do not include a program of bilingual education, effective July 1, 2005.