State lawmakers outline higher-education and special-education priorities during Farmington board meeting

State Senator Derek Schlapp and State Representative Mike D'Amico met with the Farmington Board of Education on Jan. 27 to outline early priorities for the 2025 Connecticut legislative session and to hear local concerns about special education, school-based behavioral health and other education-related issues.

Senator Derek Schlapp, who said he chairs the higher education committee and the new select committee on special education, highlighted Senate Bill 5 — the Roberta Willis Scholarship Program — as a major priority. Schlapp said the bill would expand state scholarship supports for eligible middle- and low-income students going to Connecticut four‑year colleges; a public hearing on the measure is scheduled for Feb. 20. "We're gonna be hearing that bill, the public hearing on, February 20th," Schlapp said.

The visit mattered, board members said, because special-education costs are a leading driver of district…