By Charles Ferraro
State Rep., R-117
Charles Ferraro.
As we head into September, students from around the state will be headed back to school. I want to take a quick moment to wish our students a successful school year and I want to thank all of our teachers for their dedicated work.
This legislative session we passed a number of bills that will help strengthen our schools and provide our students and teachers a safe learning environment.
Here are a couple laws I would like to highlight:
– Bullying and school climate: A new law makes numerous changes to the laws related to school bullying and school climate. Among these changes, it establishes a 33-member social and emotional learning and school climate advisory collaborative and tasks it with developing a student suicide risk assessment and biennial state-wide climate survey; modifies the definition of bullying by eliminating the requirement that the action occur between students; and requires boards of education to provide on State Department of Education’s website certain bullying prevention and intervention training materials for school administrators.
– School security: A new law requires the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection to update state school security and safety plan standards every three years, starting by Jan. 1, 2020; simplify certain school security reporting requirements; and develop criteria to identify qualified school security consultants and limit the existing registry to such individuals only. It also adds related duties for the SDE.
DESPP must submit a report to the Public Safety and Security Committee by Jan. 1, 2020, identifying the essential components for school security reporting and indicate how the department will simplify them. The department must implement the new requirements based on its findings by July 1, 2020.
– Teacher pension tax exemption: The biennial budget act delays by two years the scheduled increase in the income tax exemption for income received from the state teachers’ retirement system. The exemption was due to increase from 25 percent to 50 percent for 2019 and subsequent tax years. The new law instead maintains it at 25 percent for 2019 and 2020 and increases it to 50 percent beginning in 2021.
These are just a couple of important bills that were passed that impact our local schools. I was also proud to see a bill to force the regionalization of schools not move forward.
As always, if you have an issue, concern, or new ideas to make our schools and state better please contact me at Charles.Ferraro@housegop.ct.gov.