Sec. 10-16r. Local school readiness councils; duties. Regional school readiness councils.
Sec. 10-16r. Local school readiness councils; duties. Regional school readiness
councils. (a) A town seeking to apply for a grant pursuant to subsection (c) of section
10-16p or section 10-16u shall convene a local school readiness council or shall establish
a regional school readiness council pursuant to subsection (c) of this section. Any other
town may convene such a council. The chief elected official of the town or, in the case
of a regional school district, the chief elected officials of the towns in the school district
and the superintendent of schools for the school district shall jointly appoint and convene
such council. Each school readiness council shall be composed of: (1) The chief elected
official, or the official's designee; (2) the superintendent of schools, or a management
level staff person as the superintendent's designee; (3) parents; (4) representatives from
local programs such as Head Start, family resource centers, nonprofit and for-profit
child day care centers, group day care homes, prekindergarten and nursery schools, and
family day care home providers; (5) a representative from a health care provider in the
community; and (6) other representatives from the community who provide services to
children. The chief elected official shall designate the chairperson of the school readiness
council.
(b) The local school readiness council shall: (1) Make recommendations to the chief
elected official and the superintendent of schools on issues relating to school readiness,
including any applications for grants pursuant to sections 10-16p, 10-16u, 17b-749a
and 17b-749c; (2) foster partnerships among providers of school readiness programs;
(3) assist in the identification of (A) the need for school readiness programs and the
number of children not being served by such a program, and (B) for priority school
districts pursuant to section 10-266p, the number of children not being served by such
a program and the estimated operating cost of providing universal school readiness to
eligible children in such districts who are not being served; (4) submit biannual reports
to the Department of Education on the number and location of school readiness spaces,
estimates of future needs, and the factors identified pursuant to subdivision (3) of this
subsection; (5) cooperate with the department in any program evaluation and, on and
after July 1, 2000, use measures developed pursuant to section 10-16s for purposes of
evaluating the effectiveness of school readiness programs; (6) identify existing and
prospective resources and services available to children and families; (7) facilitate the
coordination of the delivery of services to children and families, including (A) referral
procedures, and (B) before and after-school child care for children attending kindergarten programs; (8) exchange information with other councils, the community and organizations serving the needs of children and families; (9) make recommendations to school
officials concerning transition from school readiness programs to kindergarten; and (10)
encourage public participation.
(c) Two or more towns or school districts and appropriate representatives of groups
or entities interested in early childhood education in a region may establish a regional
school readiness council. If a priority school is located in at least one of such school
districts, the regional school readiness council may apply for a grant pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10-16p. The regional school readiness council may perform the duties
outlined in subdivisions (2) to (10), inclusive, of subsection (b) of this section.
(P.A. 97-259, S. 4, 41; P.A. 98-243, S. 10, 25; P.A. 99-230, S. 3, 10; P.A. 00-187, S. 11, 75; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-1,
S. 15, 54; P.A. 04-215, S. 5; P.A. 05-245, S. 2.)
History: P.A. 97-259 effective July 1, 1997; P.A. 98-243 added Subdiv. (5) of Subsec. (b)(5)(B) re before and after-school child care, effective July 1, 1998; P.A. 99-230 added Subsec. (b)(4) and (5) re biannual reports and re evaluations,
and renumbered the existing Subdivs. (4) to (8), inclusive, as Subdivs. (6) to (10), inclusive, and amended Subsec. (c) to
make a technical change, effective July 1, 1999; P.A. 00-187 amended Subsecs. (a) and (b) to add references to Sec. 10-16u and to make technical changes, effective July 1, 2000; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-1 amended Subsec. (a) to allow a town
to establish a regional school readiness council, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 04-215 amended Subsec. (b)(3) by adding
provision re universal school readiness in priority school districts and by including factors identified pursuant to Subdiv.
(3) as part of reporting requirements in Subdiv. (4), effective July 1, 2004; P.A. 05-245 added Subsec. (a)(5) re a representative from a health care provider, redesignating existing Subdiv. (5) as Subdiv. (6), effective July 1, 2005.