(a) The department shall: (1) Coordinate school-based early detection and prevention programs funded under sections 10-76u to 10-76x, inclusive; and (2) in conjunction with the Department of Children and Families and local mental health agencies, provide training, consultation, and technical assistance to local and regional boards of education in early detection, intervention techniques, screening, staffing, program management and evaluation.

(b) The department may contract with consultants to aid in the conduct of training and the provision of consultation and technical assistance to early detection and prevention programs funded under the provisions of sections 10-76u to 10-76x, inclusive.

(a) Not later than January 1, 2016, the Department of Education, in consultation with the Interagency Council for Ending the Achievement Gap established pursuant to section 10-16nn, shall develop a chronic absenteeism prevention and intervention plan for use by local and regional boards of education to reduce chronic absenteeism in the school district.

(b)(1) The chronic absenteeism prevention and intervention plan shall include, but need not be limited to, the following: (A) Information that describes (i) chronic absenteeism, including, but not limited to, the definition of a chronically absent child under section 10-198c, and the causes of chronic absenteeism, such as poverty, violence, poor health and lack of access to transportation, (ii) the effect of chronic absenteeism on a student's academic performance, and (iii) how family and school partnerships with community resources, including, but not limited to, family resource centers and youth service bureaus, can reduce chronic absenteeism and improve student attendance, and (B) a means of collecting and analyzing data relating to student attendance, truancy and chronic absenteeism for the purpose of (i) disaggregating such data by school district, school, grade and subgroups, such as race, ethnicity, gender, eligibility for free or reduced priced lunches, students whose primary language is not English and students with disabilities, and (ii) assisting local and regional boards of education in (I) tracking chronic absenteeism over multiple years and for the current school year, (II) developing indicators to identify students who are at risk of being chronically absent children, (III) monitoring students' attendance over time, and (IV) making adjustments to interventions as they are being implemented.

The Department of Education shall identify effective truancy intervention models for implementation by local and regional boards of education pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-198a, including intervention models that address the needs of students with disabilities. Not later than August 15, 2018, a listing of such approved models shall be available for implementation by local and regional boards of education pursuant to said subsection (b).

(b) Not later than September 1, 2023, the Department of Education shall develop and make available for implementation by local and regional boards of education described in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (5) of subsection (b) of section 10-198a, a truancy intervention model that accounts for mental and behavioral health.

 (c) Not later than September 1, 2023, the Department of Education, in collaboration with the Department of Children and Families, shall issue guidance to local and regional boards of education on best practices relating to intervention in certain behavioral health situations and when it is appropriate to contact the 2-1-1 Infoline program or use alternative interventions

(b) Boards of education shall prescribe rules for the management, studies, classification and discipline of the public schools and, subject to the control of the State Board of Education, the textbooks to be used; shall make rules for the control, within their respective jurisdictions, of school library media centers, including Internet access and content, and approve the selection of books and other educational media therefor, and shall approve plans for public school buildings and superintend any high or graded school in the manner specified in this title.

(c) Each local and regional board of education shall develop, adopt and implement written policies concerning homework, attendance, promotion and retention. The Department of Education shall make available model policies and guidelines to assist local and regional boards of education in meeting the responsibilities enumerated in this subsection.

(a) The Department of Education shall, within available appropriations, (1) document school districts' articulated needs for technical assistance and training related to safe learning and bullying, (2) collect information on the prevention and intervention strategies used by schools to reduce the incidence of bullying, improve school climate and improve reporting outcomes, (3) develop or recommend model safe school climate plans for grades kindergarten to twelve, inclusive, and (4) in collaboration with the Connecticut Association of Schools, disseminate to all public schools grade-level appropriate school climate assessment instruments, approved by the department, to be used by local and regional boards of education for the purposes of collecting information described in subdivision (2) of this subsection so that the department can monitor bullying prevention efforts over time and compare each district's progress to state trends. Such school climate assessment instruments shall (A) include surveys that contain uniform grade-level appropriate questions that collect information about students' perspectives and opinions about the school climate at the school, and (B) allow students to complete and submit such assessment and survey anonymously.

(b) On or before February 1, 2014, and annually thereafter, the department shall, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a, submit a report on the status of its efforts pursuant to this section including, but not limited to, the number of verified acts of bullying in the state, an analysis of the responsive action taken by school districts, an analysis of student responses on the uniform grade-level appropriate questions described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (4) of subsection (a) of this section and any recommendations it may have regarding additional activities or funding to prevent bullying in schools and improve school climate to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education and children and to the speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of the Senate and the majority and minority leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate.

(c) The department may accept private donations for the purposes of this section.

(a) The Department of Education, in consultation with the State Education Resource Center, established pursuant to section 10-357a, the Governor's Prevention Partnership, the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity and the Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence, shall establish, within available appropriations, a state-wide safe school climate resource network for the identification, prevention and education of school bullying and teen dating violence in the state. Such state-wide safe school climate resource network shall make available to all schools information, training opportunities and resource materials to improve the school climate to diminish bullying and teen dating violence.

(b) The department may seek federal, state and municipal funding and may accept private donations for the administration of the state-wide safe school climate resource network.

(a) The Department of Education shall receive each safe school climate plan submitted pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-222d and review each such plan for compliance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 10-222d. Not later than thirty calendar days after receiving such plan, the department shall approve or reject such plan. If the department rejects a safe school climate plan, the department shall provide notice of such rejection and the reasons for such rejection to the local or regional board of education that submitted such plan. Such local or regional board of education shall redevelop and resubmit a safe school climate plan to the department for approval not later than thirty calendar days after receipt of notice of such rejection. Not later than thirty calendar days after receiving such resubmitted plan, the department shall approve or reject such plan. If the department rejects a resubmitted safe school climate plan, the department shall provide notice of such rejection to the local or regional board of education that resubmitted such plan. Not later than thirty calendar days after receiving notice of such rejection and the reasons for such rejection, such local or regional board of education shall adopt an appropriate model safe school climate plan, developed or recommended by the department pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of section 10-222h.

(b) The Department of Education shall make available on the department's Internet web site (1) each safe school climate plan that has been approved by the department, (2) a list of the school districts that have an approved safe school climate plan, and (3) a list of the school districts whose safe school climate plans have been rejected and that are in the process of resubmitting their safe school climate plans for approval by the department.

(a) There is established a social and emotional learning and school climate advisory collaborative. The collaborative shall (1) collect information concerning the school climate improvement efforts of local and regional boards of education, (2) document any needs articulated by local and regional boards of education for technical assistance and training relating to fostering positive school climates, (3) identify best practices for promoting positive school climates, (4) direct resources to support state-wide and local initiatives on issues relating to fostering and improving positive school climates and improving access to social and emotional learning in schools, (5) develop an assessment for screening students in grades three to twelve, inclusive, to determine whether such students are at risk for suicide, (6) develop a biennial state-wide school climate survey, as described in subsection (c) of section 2 of public act 19-166, (7) develop a model positive school climate policy, as described in subsection (a) of section 2 of public act 19-166, (8) develop a plain language explanation of the rights and remedies available under sections 10-4a and 10-4b for distribution to parents and guardians pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (c) of section 10-222d, and provide such explanation to each local and regional board of education not later than January 1, 2021, and (9) perform other functions concerning social and emotional learning and fostering positive school climates.

10-222dd. School climate coordinator appointment and duties

10-222dd. School climate coordinator appointment and duties
For the school year commencing July 1, 2025, and each school year thereafter, the superintendent of schools for each school district, or an administrator appointed by the superintendent, shall serve as the school climate coordinator for the school district. The school climate coordinator shall be responsible for (1) providing district-level leadership and support for the implementation of the school climate improvement plan for each school, developed pursuant to section 54 of this act, (2) collaborating with the school climate specialist, as described in section 51 of this act, for each school to (A) develop a continuum of strategies to prevent, identify and respond to challenging behavior, including, but not limited to, alleged bullying and harassment in the school environment, and (B) communicate such strategies to the school community, including, but not limited to, through publication the district student handbook, (3) collecting and maintaining data regarding school climate improvement, including, but not limited to, school discipline records, school climate assessments, attendance rates, social and emotional learning assessments, academic growth data, types of bullying complaints submitted by members of the school community, types of challenging behavior addressed using the restorative practices response policy, adopted pursuant to section 74 of this act, and data concerning the implementation of restorative practices, and (4) meeting with the school climate specialist for each school at least twice during the school year to (A) identify strategies to improve school climate, including, but not limited to, by responding to challenging behavior and implementing evidence and research-based interventions, such as restorative practices, (B) propose recommendations for revisions to the school climate improvement plan, and (C) assist with the completion of the school climate survey.