AN ACT CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION.

House of Representatives
sHB5325 / File No. 515 1

General Assembly File No. 515
February Session, 2026 Substitute House Bill No. 5325

House of Representatives, April 8, 2026

The Committee on Education reported through REP. LEEPER
of the 132nd Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of
the House, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:

Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 10 -236b of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2026): 3
(a) For purposes of this section: 4
(1) "Life-threatening physical restraint" means any physical restraint 5
or hold of a person that (A) restricts the flow of air into a person's lungs, 6
whether by chest compression or any other means, [or] (B) immobilizes 7
or reduces the free movement of a person's arms, legs or head while the 8
person is in the prone position, or (C) has been deemed life-threatening 9
by such person's health care provider based on such person's existing 10
medical conditions; 11
(2) "Psychopharmacologic agent" means any medication that affects 12
the central nervous system, influencing thinking, emotion or behavior; 13
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(3) "Physical restraint" means any mechanical or personal restriction 14
that immobilizes or reduces the free movement of a person's arms, legs 15
or head, including, but not limited to, carrying or forcibly moving a 16
person from one location to another. The term does not include: (A) 17
Briefly holding a person in order to calm or comfort the person; (B) 18
restraint involving the minimum contact necessary to safely escort a 19
person from one area to another; (C) medical devices, including, but not 20
limited to, supports prescribed by a health care provider to achieve 21
proper body position or balance; (D) helmets or other protective gear 22
used to protect a person from injuries due to a fall; (E) helmets, mitts 23
and similar devices used to prevent self-injury when the device is (i) part 24
of a documented treatment plan or individualized education program 25
pursuant to section 10 -76d, or (ii) prescribed or recommended by a 26
medical professional, as defined in section 38a -976, and is the least 27
restrictive means available to prevent such self -injury; or (F) an 28
exclusionary time out; 29
(4) "School employee" has the same meaning as provided in 30
subsection (b) of section 10-221o; 31
(5) "Seclusion" means the involuntary confinement of a student in a 32
room from which the student is physically prevented from leaving. 33
"Seclusion" does not include an exclusionary time out; 34
(6) "Student" means a child (A) enrolled in grades kindergarten to 35
twelve, inclusive, in a public school under the jurisdiction of a local or 36
regional board of education, (B) receiving special education and related 37
services in an institution or facility operating under contract with a local 38
or regional board of education pursuant to subsection (d) of section 10 -39
76d, (C) enrolled in a program or school administered by a regional 40
education service center established pursuant to section 10 -66a, or (D) 41
receiving special education and related services from an approved 42
private special education program, but shall not include any child 43
receiving educational services from (i) Unified School District #2, 44
established pursuant to section 17a-37, or (ii) the Department of Mental 45
Health and Addiction Services; and 46
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(7) "Exclusionary time out" means a temporary, continuously 47
monitored separation of a student from an ongoing activity in a non -48
locked setting, for the purpose of calming such student or deescalating 49
such student's behavior. 50
Sec. 2. Subsection (f) of section 10 -76ggg of the 2026 supplement to 51
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 52
thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 53
(f) Not later than July 15, 2026, and annually thereafter, each local and 54
regional board of education shall submit an annual expenditure report 55
to the Commissioner of Education, except any board of education that 56
receives a grant under this section that is less than ten thousand dollars 57
in any fiscal year shall not be responsible for submitting such report for 58
such fiscal year. Such report shall include a summary and itemization of 59
how grant funds received pursuant to this section were expended 60
during the prior fiscal year for [the direct provision of special education 61
and related services to students, including whether such grant was used 62
to hire any new special education teachers, paraeducators or behavioral 63
or reading specialists ] special education purposes, as defined in 64
subsection (e) of this section. 65
Sec. 3. Section 10 -91j of the 2026 supplement to the general statutes , 66
as amended by section 24 of public act 25 -67, is repealed and the 67
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2026): 68
(a) (1) Subject to the provisions of subdivision (2) of this subsection, 69
any agreement entered into or amended on or after July 1, 2018, but 70
prior to June 30, 2019, or any contract entered into or amended on or 71
after July 1, 2019, pursuant to section 10-76d, between a local or regional 72
board of education and a private provider of special education services, 73
as defined in section 10 -91g, shall include an explanation of how the 74
tuition or costs for services provided under the agreement or contract 75
are to be calculated. Any such agreement or contract may include the 76
following provisions: (A) A requirement that such private provider of 77
special education services submit monthly or quarterly reports to such 78
board regarding the specific services and frequency of such services 79
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being provided by such private provider of special education services 80
to students under the agreement or contract, and (B) authorization for 81
such board to (i) review and reconcile such reports to the contracted 82
services described in the agreement or contract, or (ii) conduct periodic 83
site visits at the location where such private provider of special 84
education services provides services. 85
(2) Any contract entered into or amended on or after July 1, 2026, 86
pursuant to section 10 -76d, between a local or regional board of 87
education and a private provider of special education services that is 88
subject to the provisions of section 10-76aaa, shall be in accordance with 89
the rates or the rate schedule, as the case may be, established pursuant 90
to section 10-76aaa. 91
(b) On and after July 1, 2026, a local or regional board of education 92
shall not be eligible for reimbursement pursuant to subsection (b) of 93
section 10-76g for any costs of special education paid by such board of 94
education to a private provider of special education services unless such 95
board of education has entered into a written contract with such private 96
provider of special education services for the provision of such special 97
education services. The individualized education program of a child 98
shall not be considered a contract between a local or regional board of 99
education and a private provider of special education services for 100
purposes of this section. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed 101
to limit or interrupt the provision of special education and related 102
services to a child by a local or regional board of education or private 103
provider of special education services. 104
(c) Any written contract entered into or amended on or after July 1, 105
2025, between a local or regional board of education and a private 106
provider of special education services shall include a provision that 107
requires such private provider of special education services to submit a 108
base tuition and cost for services for each school year in which services 109
are to be provided pursuant to such contract to such local or regional 110
board of education not later than December thirty -first preceding the 111
school year in which services are to be provided. 112
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:

Section 1 July 1, 2026 10-236b(a)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2026 10-76ggg(f)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2026 10-91j

ED Joint Favorable Subst.

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The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of
the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not
represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose. In general,
fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional
knowledge. Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final
products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None
Explanation
The bill has no fiscal impact. It makes various procedural and
clarifying changes regarding the provision of special education by local
and regional boards of education (BOEs). These changes are not
expected to alter any special education-related costs to BOEs.
The Out Years
State Impact: None
Municipal Impact: None

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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5325

AN ACT CONCERNING SPECIAL EDUCATION.

SUMMARY
This bill:
1. expands the range of “life -threatening physical restraint”
prohibited by state education physical restraint and seclusion
laws to include any physical restraint or hold that has been
deemed life-threatening by the individual’s health care provider
due to existing medical conditions,
2. broadens the range of information school boards must include in
a required annual expenditure report on funds they receive
through the special education and expansion development
(SEED) grant to match what the law says the SEED grant funds
may be spent on, and
3. requires that any written contract between a school board and a
private provider of special education services include a provision
requiring the private provider to submit a base tuition and cost
for services.
The bill also makes technical and minor changes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2026
EXPANSION TO LIFE -THREATENING PHYSICAL RESTRAINT
DEFINITION
The bill expands the definition of “life-threatening physical restraint”
within Connecticut’s education law addressing physical restraint and
seclusion to include any physical restraint or hold that has been deemed
life-threatening by the individual’s health care provider due to existing
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medical conditions.
By law, the definition already includes any physical restraint or hold
that (1) restricts the flow of air into a person ’s lungs, whether by chest
compression or any other means, or (2) immobilizes or reduces the free
movement of a person ’s arms, legs , or head while the person is in the
prone position.
Under existing law, and unchanged by the bill, no school employee
can use life-threatening physical restraint on a student.
SEED GRANT ANNUAL REPORTING REQUIREMENT
Current law requires school boards that receive a SEED grant to
annually report to the Connecticut State Department of Education how
they spend their SEED grant (provided it is more th an $10,000). The
report must itemize how grant funds were expended during the prior
fiscal year for directly providing special education and related services
to students, including hir ing any new special education teachers,
paraeducators, or behavioral or reading specialists.
The bill instead matches the reporting requirement with the grant’s
allowable “special education purposes.” More specifically, this requires
the report to itemize how grant funds were spent for (1) directly
providing special education and related services to students ; (2) Tier 2
interventions; (3) academic and behavioral interventions; (4) hiring and
paying special education teachers, paraeducators , and behavioral and
reading specialists who work directly with students ; (5) equipment
purchases and maintenance; and (6) curriculum materials.
BASE TUITION AND COST OF SERVICES PROVISION IN SPECIAL
EDUCATION CONTRACTS
The bill requires that any written contract between a school board
and a private provider of special education services include a provision
requiring the provider to submit a base tuition and cost for services for
each school year they provide services under the contract. This
submission must be made by the December 31st before the school year
when the services will be provided.
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Under existing law, and unchanged by the bill, these contracts must
also include an explanation of how the tuition or costs for services
provided under the contract will be calculated.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Education Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 46 Nay 0 (03/18/2026)