Connecticut Education Lawyer & Attorney : Berchem, Moses & Devlin Law Firm : CT Public Schools

Proposed legislation introduced in today's session of the General Assembly includes Raised Bill 5868, An Act Concerning Recruiting at High Schools, and Raised Bill 649, An Act Concerning School Learning Environment. 

RB 5868 would require all boards of education to adopt a written policy on or before January 1, 2009 regulating recruitment by the armed forces, prospective employers, colleges and other post-secondary institutions in high schools.  The policy proposed by this statute would prohibit the recruitment of any student under 15 years of age unless parental consent has been provided, would require the recruiter to obtain permission from the school principal before conducting recruiting, would require interview appointments to be set up through the guidance office, and would limit recruitment activities to designated areas of the school.  The required policies would also require parental notification that participation in recruitment activities is voluntary, and would require districts to release directory information about students to recruiters unless parents have opted out (with a required process for notification and opt-out as well).  Consistent with the Patriot Act, recruiters from the armed forces would have equal access to students as compared to other types of recruiters at high schools.

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In previous blog entries, we have covered the December order issued by the Connecticut Medical Examining Board (CMEB) against Dr. Charles Ray Jones.  On January 18, 2008, Dr. Jones filed an appeal of the CMEB order, claiming that the order was in error and specifically claiming bias on the part of one of the CMEB members who participated in the decision.  Papers filed by Dr. Jones and his attorneys claim that following the hearing decision, his attorney was approached by a member of the audience claiming to have knowledge of the bias of one of the doctors sitting on the panel.  This alleged bias is the subject of a series of affidavits filed by family members in State Superior Court claiming to have sought treatment for chronic Lyme Disease with this physician, who allegedly made a series of derogatory statements about the existence of chronic Lyme as a recognized condition and indicated that the treatment of such a non-existent condition would be fraudulent.

Although no final decision on the appeal has yet been issued, on February 19, 2008, the court issued a temporary partial stay of the CMEB order.  According to the February court order, the civil penalty in the amount of $10,000 has been paid into escrow and will remain there until the appeal is resolved, and the 2-year probationary period has been stayed.  However, the provision of the CMEB order requiring monitoring of Dr. Jones' practice by an independent pediatrician remains in effect, with some modifications.

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Today's bills filed in the General Assembly include Raised Bill 5833, a proposed amendment to Connecticut General Statutes Section 53a-119, which would add as a felony criminal charge "obtaining school accommodations by misrepresenting a child's residence".  This would be defined as a parent, guardian or person acting on behalf of such person (or student if over the age of 18), intentionally misrepresenting the town of residence of the child, with the intent to obtain school accommodations from a school district other than the one in which the child resides.

Although other sections of the criminal code relating to theft of public goods have been cited in connection with the arrest of parents in connection with this type of offense, this would make it clear that such conduct is a criminal offense without having to rely on an interpretation of another more general section of the criminal code.  This bill has been referred to the Judiciary Committee.

For other new bills filed, read on...

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