(a) Annually, the board of education for each local and regional school district shall ascertain, in accordance with regulations adopted by the State Board of Education, the eligible students in such school district and shall classify such students according to their dominant language.

(b) Whenever it is ascertained that there are in any public school within a local or regional school district twenty or more eligible students classified as dominant in any one language other than English, the board of education of such district shall provide a program of bilingual education for such eligible students for the school year next following. Eligible students shall be placed in such program in accordance with subsection (e) of this section.

(c) On or before July 1, 2000, the State Board of Education, within available appropriations, shall develop a state English mastery standard to assess the linguistic and academic progress of students in programs of bilingual education. On and after September 1, 2000, each local and regional board of education shall assess, annually, the progress made by each student toward meeting the state standard. If a student is not making sufficient progress toward meeting the state standard based on the assessment, the local or regional board of education shall provide language support services to the student in consultation with the parent or guardian of the student to allow the student to meet the state standard. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, summer school, after-school assistance and tutoring. If a student meets the state standard based on the assessment, the student shall leave the program. Each local and regional board of education shall document on a student’s permanent record the date the student begins in a program of bilingual education and the date and results of the assessments required pursuant to this subsection.

(d) Each local and regional board of education shall limit the time an eligible student spends in a program of bilingual education to thirty months, whether or not such months are consecutive, except that such time period may be extended in accordance with this section and summer school and any two-way language programs established pursuant to subsection (i) of this section shall not be counted. An eligible student may spend up to an additional thirty months in a program of bilingual education if (1) the local or regional board of education responsible for educating such student requests an extension of such bilingual education for such student to the Department of Education, or (2) the Department of Education makes a determination that an extension of such bilingual education for such student is necessary. The department shall use the standards developed pursuant to § 10-17k in determining whether to grant a request by a local or regional board of education for an extension of such bilingual education for an eligible student or whether an extension of a bilingual education program for an eligible student is necessary. If an eligible student does not meet the English mastery standard at the end of the initial thirty months or at the end of an extension of the bilingual education program for such student, the local or regional board of education shall provide language transition and academic support services to such student. Such services may include, but need not be limited to, English as a second language programs, sheltered English programs, English immersion programs, or other research-based language development programs. Families may also receive guidance from school professionals to help their children make progress in their native language. If an eligible student enrolls in a secondary school when the student has fewer than thirty months remaining before graduation, the local or regional board of education shall assign the student to an English as a second language program and may provide intensive services to the student to enable the student to speak, write and comprehend English by the time the student graduates and to meet the course requirements for graduation.

(e) Each local and regional board of education shall hold a meeting with the parents and legal guardians of eligible students to explain the benefits of the language program options available in the school district, including an English language immersion program, and any native language accommodations that may be available for the mastery examination, administered pursuant to § 10-14n. The parents and legal guardians may bring an interpreter or an advisor to the meeting. If the parent or legal guardian of an eligible student opts to have such student placed in a program of bilingual education, the local or regional board of education shall place the child in such program.

(f) The board of education for each local and regional school district which is required to provide a program of bilingual education shall initially endeavor to implement the provisions of subsection (b) of this section through in-service training for existing certified professional employees, and thereafter, shall give preference in hiring to such certified professional employees as are required to maintain the program.

(g) The State Board of Education shall adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to establish requirements for: (1) Such programs, which may be modeled after policy established by the Department of Education for bilingual education programs; (2) local and regional boards of education to integrate bilingual and English as a second language program faculty in all staff, planning and curriculum development activities; and (3) all bilingual education teachers employed by a local or regional board of education, on and after July 1, 2001, to meet all certification requirements, including completion of a teacher preparation program approved by the State Board of Education, or to be certified through an alternate route to certification program.

(h) Each board of education for a local and regional school district which is required to provide for the first time a program of bilingual education shall prepare and submit to the Commissioner of Education for review a plan to implement such program, in accordance with regulations adopted by the State Board of Education.

(i) Each local and regional board of education that is required to provide a program of bilingual education pursuant to this section shall investigate the feasibility of establishing two-way language programs starting in kindergarten.