Sec.10-76h-1. Definitions

As used in Sections 10-76h-1 to 10-76h-18, inclusive, the following terms have the following meanings:

(a) “Business day” means Monday through Friday, except for federal and state legal holidays, unless holidays are specifically included in the designation of business day.

(b) “Commissioner” means the Commissioner of Education.

(c) “Child” means an individual under twenty-one years of age who is eligible for or may be eligible for special education and related services.

(d) “Day” means calendar day unless otherwise indicated as business day.

(e) “Department” means the Department of Education.

(f) “Due process unit” means the unit located within the Bureau of Special Education which manages the mediation, advisory opinion and hearing processes;

(g) “Parent” means a natural or adoptive parent of a child; a guardian, but not the state if the child is a ward of the state; a person acting in the place of a parent, such as a grandparent or stepparent, with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child's welfare; a pupil; or, a surrogate parent who has been appointed pursuant to section 10-94g of the Connecticut General Statutes.

(h) “Party” means those individuals or groups who are engaged in mediation, in the advisory opinion process or in a hearing.

(i) “Public agency” means a local or regional board of education, the technical high school system, a unified school district, or the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services or any other state agency to the extent such agency is responsible for the provision of special education and related services to a child with a disability.

(j) “Pupil” means an emancipated minor or a child eighteen years of age or older.

(Effective September 1, 1980; Amended July 1, 2000; Amended July 1, 2013)