BESB Notice of Public Hearing

Notice of Public Hearing

The State of Connecticut, Board of Education and Services for the Blind (BESB) will be conducting a public hearing on Tuesday, November 9, 2010, from 3:00 pm until 5:30 pm for the purpose of receiving public comment on three (3) proposed changes to the agency’s regulations. The hearing will be conducted at the agency headquarters which is located at 184 Windsor Avenue, Windsor, Connecticut 06095. Attendees may participate in person or by telephone toll-free. Anyone wishing to participate by telephone should call or e-mail Andrew Norton of BESB by Monday, November 8, at (860) 602-4078 or at andrew.norton@ct.gov for the necessary instructions. Any person requiring an accommodation at the hearing (such as an interpreter) should contact Mr. Norton by Tuesday, November 2, to make the necessary arrangements. Interested person may also submit comments or testimony directly to Mr. Norton by e-mail or at the agency’s address listed above. The deadline for submission is November 18, 2010.

Any person who would like to review these regulations may open the documents attached to this email and also by visiting the agency website at www.ct.gov/besb and go to the “Upcoming Events and Announcements” section. One may also call, mail or e-mail Mr. Norton (see above for contact information) to obtain these documents as well as the fiscal notes and Small Business Impact Statements in standard format, Braille, large print or electronically. The proposals in these formats will also be available at the hearing.

The agency is proposing to change its regulations in three areas. The first proposal is a rewrite of the entire set of Children’s Services regulations in order to modernize these 21-year-old regulations and make them conform to current statute, agency policy and practice regarding educational services provided by BESB. The second proposal changes the regulations regarding the Income Incentive program for Vending Facility Operators who are blind to make them more consistent with current Board practice. Third, the agency is updating and streamlining the regulations concerning the provision of health insurance to Vending Facility Operators and agency consumers formerly served through the agency Industries program.