By Attorney Thomas B. Mooney, Neag School of Education, University of Connecticut

The “Legal Question of the Week” is a regular feature of the CAS Weekly NewsBlast. We invite readers to submit short, law-related questions of practical concern to school administrators. Each week, we will select a question and publish an answer. While these answers cannot be considered formal legal advice, they may be of help to you and your colleagues. We may edit your questions, and we will not identify the authors. Please submit your questions to: legalmailbagcasciacorg. _________________________________________________________________________________________

Dear Legal Mailbag:

I just got out of a long meeting with a parent. He was on my case because, in his view, the curriculum at my K-5 elementary school is deficient. Why you ask? Because we do not address the accomplishments of the Irish people. When he told me that, I joked that as a good kinsman, I take my favorite teacher friends out to drink every St. Patrick’s Day. He didn’t laugh, and when I then expressed surprise that fellow Irishman didn’t have a better sense of humor, he got downright angry. Go figure. Anyway, he wants a written response so that he can sue me or something. What should I say?

Signed,
Kiss Me, I’m Irish

Dear Irish:

As wonderful as our common heritage is, this parent has no legal issue concerning the curriculum. The prescribed course of studies set out in Connecticut General Statutes does not make any specific reference to the Irish people or heritage.

This is not to say that a school district cannot or should not include study of the Irish people in the curriculum (along with, of course, the study of our other diverse heritages that enrich our culture). State statutes prescribe topics that must be addressed through staff in-service training, including:

(1) the nature and the relationship of drugs, as defined in subdivision (17) of section 21a-240, and alcohol to health and personality development, and procedures for discouraging their abuse, (2) health and mental health risk reduction education which includes, but need not be limited to, the prevention of risk-taking behavior by children and the relationship of such behavior to substance abuse, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV-infection and AIDS, as defined in section 19a-581, violence, teen dating violence, domestic violence, child abuse and youth suicide, (3) the growth and development of exceptional children, including handicapped and gifted and talented children and children who may require special education, including, but not limited to, children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder or learning disabilities, and methods for identifying, planning for and working effectively with special needs children in a regular classroom, including, but not limited to, implementation of student individualized education programs, (4) school violence prevention, conflict resolution, the prevention of and response to youth suicide and the identification and prevention of and response to bullying, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10-222d, except that those boards of education that implement any evidence-based model approach that is approved by the Department of Education and is consistent with subsection (d) of section 10-145a, subsection (a) of section 10-220a, sections 10-222d, 10-222g and 10-222h, subsection (g) of section 10-233c and sections 1 and 3 of public act 08-160*, shall not be required to provide in-service training on the identification and prevention of and response to bullying, (5) cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency life saving procedures, (6) computer and other information technology as applied to student learning and classroom instruction, communications and data management, (7) the teaching of the language arts, reading and reading readiness for teachers in grades kindergarten to three, inclusive, (8) second language acquisition in districts required to provide a program of bilingual education pursuant to section 10-17f, (9) the requirements and obligations of a mandated reporter. Each local and regional board of education may allow any paraprofessional or noncertified employee to participate, on a voluntary basis, in any in-service training program provided pursuant to this section, and (10) the teacher evaluation and support program developed pursuant to subsection (b) of section 10-151b.

Connecticut General Statutes Section 10-220a. As if that isn’t enough, there are also provisions in the same statute regarding optional training on other topics:

The State Board of Education, within available appropriations and utilizing available materials, shall assist and encourage local and regional boards of education to include: (A) Holocaust and genocide education and awareness; (B) the historical events surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland; (C) African-American history; (D) Puerto Rican history; (E) Native American history; (F) personal financial management; (G) domestic violence and teen dating violence; and (H) topics approved by the state board upon the request of local or regional boards of education as part of in-service training programs pursuant to this subsection.

The State Department of Education has in fact made materials on these topics available. Perhaps you should visit either the professional development and evaluation committee or the curriculum committee to find out whether and how they have included our proud heritage in professional development activities or the curriculum, respectively.