Attorney Deborah G. Stevenson

Executive Director

P.O. Box 704 , Southbury, CT 06488

Attempts To Pass Withdrawal Language – 2005-2007 Sessions

In 2005, after many problems with Schools reporting families to DCF or threatening families with DCF referrals after some chose not to file a Notice of Intent even after writing a letter of withdrawal to the school, Rep. Arthur O’Neill offered some bills and amendments to bills to get withdrawal language codified. He garnered bi-partisan support for this language that would deem children disenrolled from school when parents send a letter of withdrawal to the school, because what was happening was that parents would send in a letter of withdrawal and the school would ignore it and keep the child on the enrollment list. They would then deem the child truant when they did not appear in school, and then call DCF and file a complaint of truancy.

2005 Session - The initial language was in a proposed bill HB 5552. Co-Chair of the Education Committee, Rep. Andrew Fleischmann vows to help fix the problem of DCF harassment. He never raises the bill out of committee and instead lets it die. No hearing dates were ever set for the bill. At the end of the session Rep. O’Neill offers up the language as amendments on 6/1/05 to bill HB6948, LCO 6637, and the amendment was defeated in a voice vote. Rep. O’Neill tries again to place the language in an amendment to bill HB6989, LCO 8196, on 6/8/05 and the amendment is narrowly defeated 79-69.

2006 Session – Rep. O’Neill offers a bill to Education Committee with withdrawal language. Once again, the Education Committee never gives it a public hearing date and never raises it out of committee. On 4/26/06 Rep. O’Neill tries to place it as an amendment on SB637, LCO 4755, and it is defeated 87-58. Being a short session there was little time to try again.

2007 Session - Rep. O’Neill again offers a bill with the withdrawal language to the Education Committee and again, the co-chairs decide not to give it a public hearing or raise it out of committee. On 5/31/07 Rep O’Neill offers an amendment, LCO 8545, – with bi-partisan support by 24 legislators to SB1094, and Rep. Christ objected to the amendment not being germane to the bill which was a “school bullying bill”. Many parents try to withdraw their children to homeschool them because of bullying in school. The House stood at ease for a while and then the acting Speaker of the House Rep. Bob Godfrey ruled the amendment not germane, and it never got to a vote.

It is time to codify this language:

In accordance with the provisions of section 10-184, when a parent or guardian of a child provides by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the principal of the school that the child attends or to the superintendent of the local or regional board of education, written notice originated by and signed by the parent or guardian of a child stating that the parent or guardian is withdrawing the child from enrollment in a public school and will provide instruction for the child as required pursuant to section 10-184, the principal of the school that the child attends or the local or regional board of education shall accept such notice and shall deem the child withdrawn from enrollment in the public school immediately upon receipt of such notice