Lawmakers consider more oversight for municipal summer camps 

Lawmakers are considering a bill that would impose more oversight of municipally run summer camps.  

The proposal comes after a Bethany town employee was accused last summer of sexually assaulting five young girls.  

The Senate was debating the bill Tuesday afternoon, but Democrats expected to approve it and send it to the House of Representatives.  

“We look to make our state safer, we look to make it better for our children,” Sen. Bob Duff, (D-Majority Leader), said during a press conference before the debate.  

Duff and other Senate Democrats were joined by Amy Lestinsky, a mother of one of the Bethany girls who accused Anthony Mastrangelo of sexual assault.  

“You're sending your kid to a camp run by your town, obviously it’s set up properly, obviously my children safe,” she said.  

But Senate Republicans held their own press conference, joined by municipal leaders who said the bill would lead to more costs.  

“This means families will either need to struggle more than they already are to find a way to pay for this or these kids are not going to camp,” Stonington First Selectman Danielle Cheseborough said.  

State law requires private summer camps to get a license from the Office of Early Childhood, but municipal camps are exempt.  

The bill would require them to get the same license, a process that includes required background checks for employees.  

Municipal leaders said those licenses also come with requirements for facilities, including ratios for sinks and toilets, that could force costly upgrades.  

Republicans noted Angelo was a substitute teacher, meaning he likely already underwent a background check. They said the bill is an overreach.  

“They’re using it as an excuse to get more control, they want control on everything,” Sen. Stephen Harding, (R-Minority Leader), said.  

Republicans offered an amendment that would bar employees accused of abuse from collecting on a municipal pension and opening them up to stiffer penalties. The bill failed. 

Lestinsky said municipalities should find ways to cover those costs.  

“How can you not put a price on the safety of children?” she asked.  

The bill includes other measures, such as an annual report on services offered for disconnected youth and support for early childhood programs.  

It would require the state Department of Education to develop guidance for municipalities that want to offer academies who turn five on or after Sept. 1 and thus must wait a year to enroll in kindergarten.  

Cities and towns could also use existing preschool grants to open such academies.