State Representatives Mitch Bolinsky (R-106) and Martin Foncello (R-107) visited the Board of Education to deliver a legislative update at the Tuesday, July 9, meeting held in the Newtown Municipal Center’s Council Chambers.

According to BOE Chairman Alison Plante, the board usually has Bolinsky and Foncello deliver an update at the beginning of the legislative session. However, some scheduling challenges forced them to visit after the session ended.

Plante believed that this worked out for the better, since it allowed the BOE to hear about what Bolinsky and Foncello worked on while up in Hartford.

Bolinsky kicked off the meeting by giving the board excerpts from the 2024 Major Public Acts, which he says get published by the Office of Legislative Research after every session and summarize the bills that come before them and those that pass. He only included and focused on education-related topics and children’s issues for everyone’s convenience.

Both Bolinsky and Foncello are on the Education Committee as well as the Appropriations Committee, which Bolinsky says gives them a chance to not only see and develop educational policy, but that they also can decide which parts get prioritized.

Bolinsky, being on the Education Committee for 12 years, particularly vouches for special education, and believes that the state needs to step up its support and funding for children with learning disabilities. He adds, came close to having full funding for the excess cost grants in support of special education this year, but that it “got yanked at the last minute.”

“We literally were that close this year,” Bolinsky continued. “So it’s a matter of priorities, and at some point in that, that excess cost grant piece, which is something that we as a town struggle with every year, is going to be fully funded by the state.”

A big focus for Foncello, who is comparatively newer to the Education Committee, is on early childhood issues. He believes that more money needs to be devoted to early childhood to help provide services so families can have their children attended to.

“There are many things that we can do — and still need to do — in education,” Foncello said. “Provide funding, for example, for some of the people that provide the services to the younger children and some of the older ones also. And we can only fund those if we have an equitable way of sharing the bucks that are out there to be shared.”

To that end, there are new laws that make various changes relating to early childhood care and education. One new law makes the Office of Early Childhood (OEC) responsible for operating a state-funded early care and education system that facilitates high-quality early childhood care; promoting the health and safety of children while preparing them for school while minimizing developmental delay.

Adding to the topic, Bolinsky said that he believes Connecticut has a serious problem with the shortage of child care and early childhood programs. He says that “we’re moving towards universal Pre-K, but we’re moving at a very, very slow Connecticut pace.”

Among the other discussed legislation topics was Teacher Certification Changes. Bolinsky says that this certification change, in essence, does not actually affect what a teacher does.

“Instead, it streamlines the process of recruiting teachers from other states,” Bolinsky explained. “And by making it easier for someone to transfer their qualifications to Connecticut, we’re hoping to make a dent in the educator shortage.”

Other topics discussed include legislation that enacted several measures on supporting “disconnected youth” (generally people aged 14-26 who are neither employed or enrolled in school) and the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention program, which Bolinsky said will put the Department of Public Health in charge of screenings and testing.

“It’s also gonna get tougher on the things that lead to child exploitation,” Bolinsky added.

Foncello ended their legislative session update by saying that the Education Committee wants to support students who reach high school and look beyond into their future, to ensure that they do not get lost and help them prepare for whatever path they may want to go down. He said he “wasn’t trying to imply that [the BOE] wasn’t doing it, just that we need to be mindful of it.”

“They do tend to get lost and don’t know what to make of things and what’s going to happen to them down the road,” Foncello said. “So if we can help give them a little encouragement, to help them pick one of these paths and go down it, I think we’ll be far better off. This is not just here in Newtown, but in all the towns.”

The BOE, in a 5-1 vote, also passed the non-resident tuition for the 2024-25 school year. The tuition for non-residents in the upcoming school year will be $22,575. It was originally set at $23,282, but was amended after some back-and-forth discussion from the BOE members.

BOE Director of Business and Finance Tanja Gouveia says that non-resident tuition, students coming into the Newtown district from outside the district, is brought to be determined by the board each year, and that they also offer a discount for employees that are non-residents.

Plante also shared a brief chair report, once again welcoming Dr JeanAnn Paddyfote to Newtown as the interim superintendent of schools after officially stepping into the position on Monday, July 1.

“We very much appreciate you being at the helm while the search committee continues its efforts to find a full-time superintendent,” Plante said.

Paddyfote thanked Plante for the kind words, and said that she has found everyone, especially those she works closely with, to be “very welcoming and helpful.” She said that by the end of the week she will have spent at least one hour visiting each of the principals in their school and with district leaders at the central office.

Paddyfote also said that she has been collaborating with Assistant Superintendent Anne Uberti to ensure a smooth and successful opening for school this fall, along with Gouveia to discuss the year-end closeout and topics related to the new fiscal year.

“I look forward to a very productive and busy summer,” Paddyfote said.

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.