Sec. 10-233h. Arrested students. Reports by police, disclosure, confidentiality. Police testimony at expulsion hearings. - Connecticut Statutes

      Sec. 10-233h. Arrested students. Reports by police, disclosure, confidentiality. Police testimony at expulsion hearings. If any person who is at least seven years of age but less than twenty-one years of age and an enrolled student is arrested for a violation of section 53-206c, a class A misdemeanor or a felony, the municipal police department or Division of State Police within the Department of Public Safety that made such arrest shall, not later than the end of the weekday following such arrest, orally notify the superintendent of schools of the school district in which such person resides of the identity of such person and the offense or offenses for which he was arrested and shall, within seventy-two hours of such arrest, provide written notification of such arrest, containing a brief description of the incident, to such superintendent. The superintendent shall maintain such written report in a secure location and the information in such report shall be maintained as confidential in accordance with section 46b-124. The superintendent may disclose such information only to the principal of the school in which such person is a student or to the principal or supervisory agent of any other school in which the superintendent knows such person is a student. The principal or supervisory agent may disclose such information only to special services staff or a consultant, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker, for the purposes of assessing the risk of danger posed by such person to himself, other students, school employees or school property and effectuating an appropriate modification of such person's educational plan or placement, and for disciplinary purposes. If the arrest occurred during the school year, such assessment shall be completed not later than the end of the next school day. If an expulsion hearing is held pursuant to section 10-233d, a representative of the municipal police department or the Division of State Police, as appropriate, may testify and provide reports and information on the arrest at such hearing, provided such police participation is requested by any of the following: The local or regional board of education, the impartial hearing board, the principal of the school or the student or his parent or guardian. Such information with respect to a child under sixteen years of age shall be confidential in accordance with section 46b-124, and shall only be disclosed as provided in this section and shall not be further disclosed.

      (P.A. 94-221, S. 10; P.A. 95-304, S. 7, 9; P.A. 97-149, S. 1, 2.)

      History: P.A. 95-304 applied provisions of the section to persons arrested for class A misdemeanors, effective July 1, 1995; P.A. 97-149 deleted language limiting the applicability of the section to arrests during the school year and specified the time frame for assessments applied to arrest during the school year, made the section applicable to arrests for violations of Sec. 53-206c, changed the time frame for oral notification from the end of the "next school day" to the "weekday" following the arrest, and added provision concerning testimony and the provision of reports and information at expulsion hearings by representatives of the municipal police department and the Division of the State Police, effective July 1, 1997.