Connecticut’s 2026 legislative session produced a long list of new laws, and many of them took effect on October 1. Two deserve a close read from charter schools, independent schools, and education nonprofits: a pay-transparency rule that applies to every employer, and a higher bar for suspending students in preschool through grade 2. Our July Beacon covered the session as a whole. This post is about what has to change in your paperwork now.
Public Act 26-12: a pay range in every job posting
Public Act 26-12 is a long employment bill, and most of it is aimed at school districts and other public employers. One part reaches everyone.
Since October 1, every job advertisement, internal or public, must include the wage or wage range and a general description of benefits. Current employees are also entitled to the range when their position changes, including a promotion.
The law applies to any employer with one or more employees. There’s no exception for nonprofits and no size threshold. Charter schools and independent schools aren’t named, but they don’t need to be. A nonprofit corporation is an “employer” like any other.
What counts as a range? The statute asks for one “set in good faith,” and lets you base it on a pay scale, a range you’ve used before, what comparable staff earn now, or the amount you’ve budgeted. A range so wide it tells applicants nothing will be hard to defend as good faith. Applicants and employees can sue within two years for compensatory damages and attorney’s fees. Punitive damages are no longer available.
Three smaller changes in the same law also took effect October 1:
The ban on employment promissory notes, which make a departing employee repay the employer, now covers employers of every size, not only those with 26 or more employees.
Employers must give written notice of the right to disability accommodations: to new hires, to current staff within 120 days, and within 10 days to anyone who discloses a disability. Displaying the CT Department of Labor’s poster satisfies the requirement.
Lactation break rules now track the Federal PUMP Act.
One more item for charter schools (effective July 1, 2026): At the end of this school year, charter schools must report which paraeducators have “reasonable assurance” of returning, ten days before the last day of school.
Public Act 26-1: “serious physical harm” for the youngest students
A school may now suspend a student in preschool through grade 2 out of school only if the student’s conduct on school grounds caused serious physical harm. The old standard was physical harm. This change took effect July 1, so schools are already a few months into it.
The law is written for local and regional boards of education. Whether it binds charter schools directly is less clear, and charter leaders should treat it as applying until the State says otherwise. Independent schools aren’t bound by it. Many, though, have adopted public-school discipline standards in their handbooks or in contracts with districts, sometimes without realizing it.
If out-of-school suspension is off the table, what comes next? The CT Department of Education’s April 2026 memo on in-school suspensions and forced parent pick-ups is worth reading before you decide.
What to do now
Everyone who hires: Add a good-faith wage range and a short benefits summary to every job posting template, internal postings included. Write down how you set each range, so you can show your work if asked.
HR leads: Send the accommodation-rights notice to current staff by January 29, 2027, and add it to onboarding. Check offer letters and training agreements for repayment terms.
Charter school leaders: Calendar the paraeducator report for ten days before the last day of school in June 2027.
Schools with early grades: Compare your discipline policy and family handbook to the “serious physical harm” standard. If you’ve adopted public-school rules, update yours to match.
Boards: Ask for a short report this fall confirming both updates are done.
If you’d like a second look at your posting templates and notices, or a quick check of your discipline policy against the new standard, we’re happy to help.
About the firm. Commonlight Legal LLP serves as outside general counsel to charter schools, independent schools, and other nonprofits on employment, governance, and compliance. If your school is updating its job postings and staff notices, or checking its discipline policy against the new standard, we offer a complimentary 30-minute consultation with a managing partner at commonlight.legal/appointments.
Attorney advertising. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this article does not create an attorney-client relationship. For advice specific to your organization’s situation, contact your attorney or set up a consultation with us.
Author bio. Lauren Koster is a Managing Partner of Commonlight Legal LLP and is based in New York City. She represents multijurisdictional tax-exempt entities, including public charities, private foundations, and social welfare organizations, as outside general counsel, advising on entity formation, governance, compliance, and grantmaking. She also leads the firm’s charter and independent school practice.
Lauren’s career has combined litigation and transactional work in public service. She clerked in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire and the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, served as a Rappaport Fellow for Law & Public Policy in the Office of General Counsel at the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, and was a Skadden Fellow representing children as a court-appointed advocate in juvenile court and child welfare matters. She is admitted to practice in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.
