(a) No local or regional board of education shall permit any student to graduate from high school or grant a diploma to any student pursuant to section 10-221a unless such student has (1) completed a Free Application for Federal Student Aid, (2) completed and submitted to a public institution of higher education an application for institutional financial aid for students without legal immigration status established pursuant to section 10a-161d, or (3) completed a waiver, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (b) of this section and on a form prescribed by the Commissioner of Education, signed by such minor student’s parent or legal guardian or by such student if such student is a legally emancipated minor or eighteen years of age or older.

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(b) Any waiver completed by a student pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (a) of this section shall require the parent, legal guardian or student to affirm that such parent, legal guardian or student understands the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and shall not require the parent, legal guardian or student to state any reasons for choosing not to complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid or the application for institutional financial aid for students without legal immigration status. On and after March fifteenth of the school year, a principal, school counselor, teacher or other certified educator may complete such waiver on behalf of any student who has not satisfied any of the requirements described in subsection (a) of this section, if such principal, school counselor, teacher or other certified educator affirms that they have made a good faith effort to contact the parent, legal guardian or student about completion of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid or an application for institutional financial aid for students without legal immigration status.