CT Mirror - District 91��Ƭistration

Connecticut school cellphone ban passes House with bipartisan support

Wed, 29 Apr 2026 12:49:03 +0000

A bill that would impose a statewide bell-to-bell cellphone ban in public schools cleared the state House of Representatives Monday by a vote of 117-31.

Twenty Republicans joined most Democrats in passing House Bill 5035, which prohibits students across Connecticut from using cellphones on school grounds during the school day. What exactly students do with those phones — whether they keep them in backpacks, for example, or store them in locked pouches — would remain a question for individual districts. The bill makes exceptions for students with specialized learning plans, such as IEPs and 504 plans.

The ban has been a priority this year for both legislative Democrats and Gov. Ned Lamont, who raised the issue at his State of the State address in February. Proponents say phones, and especially the social media apps they run, are distracting, addictive and ripe for abuse. Many draw inspiration from Jonathan Haidt’s bestselling book “The Anxious Generation,” which connects phone use with a devastating rise in youth mental health disorders.

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Connecticut school leaders on K-12 budget: ‘A trainwreck for education’

Wed, 18 Feb 2026 11:23:58 +0000

This year, Putnam Public Schools Superintendent Steven Rioux will ask the town of Putnam to give its school district an additional $1.6 million — a 7.23% increase from last year.

“When I built my budget this year, I asked the principals to tell me what you need, and the need was about $2.5 million, or an 11% increase,” Rioux said. “That’s not going to happen, right?”

So Rioux started cutting. He cut staff, resources and programs, and when he was done, he had whittled that 11% increase down to 7.23%. If Gov. Ned Lamont’s proposed budget becomes law, the full amount will have to be funded by local property taxes in Putnam.

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Trump administration’s ‘irreparable’ cut in NIH research funds blocked by judge

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 18:11:50 +0000

The National Institutes of Health won’t be able to implement an across-the-board cap on how much it pays research universities and medical schools for indirect costs, under a federal court order released Wednesday in cases brought by Democratic attorneys general and university associations.

Judge Angel Kelley of the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts granted a nationwide preliminary injunction in the case, blocking the proposed 15% cap on Facilities and 91��Ƭistrative fees from taking effect while three lawsuits advance.

Those costs cover the expenses that go along with research, but that aren’t directly associated with one specific project. They can include construction, maintenance, equipment purchases, utilities and administrative staff.

Grand jury probe into Connecticut’s school construction program continuing

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 15:20:21 +0000

A federal grand jury’s investigation into how contracts were awarded through the state’s school construction grant program has quietly continued in recent months, with four detailed subpoenas issued this year—two as recently as October.

The subpoenas, as well as two previously undisclosed from 2022, seek phone records, emails and calendar entries of as many as 16 state employees, according to the attorney who reviews Freedom of Information Act requests concerning subpoenas.

All names in the subpoenas are redacted, except for Konstantinos “Kosta” Diamantis, the former state representative who became the head of the state’s school construction program and a deputy secretary at the Office of Policy and Management. Diamantis retired in late 2021.

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