On August 27, 2020, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied the Connecticut State Board of Education’s motion to stay an earlier district court ruling that concluded that children (young adults) must remain eligible for special education until they turn 22 or graduate with a “regular high school diploma.”   What does this mean? Because the stay was denied, the State (including local school districts) must comply with the district court’s ruling and provide services to children who would otherwise have “aged out” at the end of the school year in which they turned 21, while the appeal continues.   Read more about the lawsuit here.

Read the order here.

For more information:

• Read the Ruling on the Parties’ Cross Motions for Summary Judgement filed on June 10, 2020.
• Read the Fact Sheet, “Change to Special Education Law in Connecticut”, published by Disability Rights Connecticut.
• Read the news release issued by Disability Rights Connecticut here and a copy of the decision here.
• Read the July 24, 2020 guidance issued by the Connecticut State Department of Education here and the updated guidance issued on September 5, 2020 here.