Background

In 2016, the Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) issued its Guidelines for Alternative Education Settings,¹ as required by a 2015 law calling for the Connecticut State Board of Education (CSBE) to establish guidelines concerning alternative education programs in general.² During the 2016 legislative session, the General Assembly passed a law expanding and more clearly defining the obligation of local education agencies (LEAs) to provide alternative educational opportunities for students who have been expelled, in particular. In articulating this obligation, the General Assembly relied on the definition of “alternative education” from the more general alternative education law passed in 2015. Thus, the CSDE reconvened the Alternative Schools Committee (ASC) — originally established to help the CSDE develop the Guidelines for Alternative Education Settings — to assist in developing guidelines specifically addressing alternative educational opportunities for students who have been expelled.

In 2017, after the reconvened ASC completed its work, the General Assembly further refined the law governing educational opportunities for students who have been expelled — including directing the CSBE to adopt stan- dards for the provision of such alternative educational opportunities. In preparing the standards that follow, the CSDE considered the extensive and thoughtful input provided by the ASC and incorporated the statutory changes resulting from the 2017 legislation.

1. http://portal.ct.gov/SDE/Publications/Guidelines-for-Alternative-Education-Settings

2. Public Act 15-133, An Act Concerning Alternative Education (codified in Connecticut General Statutes §§ 10-74j and 10-74k).