Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 2, February 2024
I.
Application/Approval
A.
Secondary Technical Center Approval1.
An application for a new secondary technical center must be submitted to the
Associate Director for Workforce Training in the Department of Career Education
(ACE) on or before October 1, prior to the school year in which
the center is scheduled to open. Guidelines and application forms for a new
secondary technical center may be obtained by contacting the Associate
Director for Workforce Training, #3 Capitol Mall, Luther S. Hardin Bldg.,
Little Rock, AR 72201-1083, or by calling (501)
682-1505.
2. Priority will
be given to areas not currently being served by a center. A center will not be
approved within 25 miles of an existing center unless it can be demonstrated
that the creation of a new center will not adversely impact adjoining
centers.
3. A sponsoring
institution/entity (public high school, postsecondary technical institute,
two-year college, or education service cooperative) that has been approved by
the State Board of Career Education (SBCE) as a secondary technical center may
begin operation with three occupation specific programs, but must
have six programs of study in at least five career clusters by the start
of the fourth year. Only occupational specific programs will be eligible for
secondary technical center funding.
4. A secondary technical center that is
approved by the SBCE must serve multiple high schools in order to qualify for
secondary technical center funding.
5. A secondary technical center that closes
and desires to resume operation must submit a new application to the SBCE for
approval. A center that is approved by SBCE for start-up but fails to begin
operation within a two-year period shall be considered null and void and must
reapply.
B.
New
or Expanded Programs
1. For new or
expanded program approval, the sponsoring institution/entity shall submit a
proposal to the Deputy Director of Career and Technical Education,
Department of Career Education, prior to October 1, preceding the
year in which the program(s) is to be implemented. The application is available
in the Career & Technical Education link on the ACE website at Career and
Technical Education.
2. Newly
approved programs must be authorized by the Associate Director for Workforce
Training to receive technical center funding.
3. Programs of study offered at the centers
must be selected from a list of approved programs as defined by the Department
of Career Education. This list will be reviewed annually.
C.
Satellite/Off Campus
Programs1. An existing secondary
technical center or proposed center, approved by the SBCE, may provide
satellite location(s) to school districts that are located outside the 25
miles or 30 minutes of driving time. Satellite locations
must be shared by more than one school district. Satellite
locations will be eligible for funding in the same manner as center
programs.
2. A Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) shall be completed, signed by cooperating parties, and on
file in the secondary technical center director's office concerning the
operation of satellite locations.
3.
All applications for a satellite
location require the approval of SBCE.
1. The secondary center must complete an
application to open a satellite/off campus program(s). The application is to be
submitted to the ACE along with all required documentation of
support.
2. All satellite/off
campus programs will be approved by the SBCE prior to start up.
3. Documentation from the technical center's
administration that indicates interest and approval in opening a satellite/off
campus program. This documentation should include at a minimum (1) a letter
from the center director to the ACE stating the center's intent to open the
location; (2) minutes from the technical center's board of directors meeting
showing the board's support; and (3) minutes from the technical center's
sponsoring entity showing the sponsoring entity's support.
4. Documentation from the participating
schools indicating their support of the satellite/off campus program(s). This
should be in the form of (1) minutes from the participating school's board
meetings indicating the school will support the program(s) at the satellite/off
campus location; (2) a letter from each school's superintendent indicating the
school district's support of the program(s).
5. The secondary center must show a need for
the satellite/off campus program(s) through documentation including surveys of
area business and industry, job outlook forecasts, projected enrollment,
etc.
6. The host school agrees to
provide the following:
(1) facilities
including classroom(s), lab(s), utilities, maintenance and janitorial services;
(2) handle immediate issues
involving discipline until the center director can address the situation; and
(3) statement allowing the
participation of other school districts.
7. The technology center agrees to:
(1) furnish the classroom(s) and lab(s) with
equipment, furniture, etc.;
(2)
furnish supplies for the program;
(3) handle discipline matters under the
center's guidelines in a timely fashion.
(4) employ instructor(s) for approved center
programs of study.
8.
Each participating high school shall be guaranteed seats in each program at the
satellite/off campus program. The individual school's percentage of
10th grade enrollment calculated from the total
10th grade enrollment of all participating high
schools shall be the method used to determine available seats.
4.
Existing Satellite/Off
Campus Programs
All existing satellite/off campus programs shall be required to submit
an MOU identifying the program, location, participating schools and projected
enrollment from participating schools. Host schools will be required to submit
a letter of support for the satellite/off campus program. Existing
satellite/off-campus programs will be subject to the same guidelines as new
satellite/off-campus programs to be reviewed at the end of a five-year
period.
5.
Consolidation
All satellite/off campus program(s) affected by school consolidation
that are reduced to single school status will be re-evaluated as to the status
of a satellite/off campus program(s),
D.
Regional Technical Center
A secondary technical center to be designated as a regional technical
center shall be approved by SBCE.
II.
Finance
A.
Funding
1.
Technical center aid will be
calculated and distributed by the Department of Career Education based upon
each secondary technical center's eligible student FTE count. Centers receiving
technical center aid with an enrollment exceeding 60 percent of the total
enrollment from any one sending school will not receive funding for those FTEs
over the 60 percent threshold. This funding exception will apply to the
secondary technical center's main campus as well as satellite/off-campus
locations.
2. The minimum training
fee is set in accordance with ACA
6-20-2305(2)(A)
and shall be calculated from the eligible student FTE count within the 60
percent funding threshold of the previous school year.
3. The secondary technical center will bill
each participating high school based upon current enrollment.
4. A secondary technical center will only
receive funding for eligible students within the 60 percent funding
threshold.
5. Funds not expended in
accordance with ACA
6-51-301 to
6-51-305 shall be
carried forward into the succeeding year. Unexpended funds shall be carried
forward for the sole purpose of conducting summer programs and community-based
education centers or supporting vocational center operations in succeeding
years.
6. Funding modifications
shall be approved by the SBCE. Centers which have enrollment exceeding 60
percent of population from one sending school shall seek funding consideration
from the sending school with more than 60 percent of sending
population.
B.
Supplemental Funds
1. Secondary
technical centers shall be eligible for new program start-up funds as outlined
in the Program Policies and Procedures for Secondary
Programs.
2. Secondary
technical centers may from time-to-time be eligible for federal funds. ACE will
inform secondary center directors of these as soon as they become
available.
3. Secondary technical
centers may apply for and receive on their own merit any special grant funds
from other agencies. Funding of secondary centers is not limited to state
funding as described above.
III.
Expenditure Reports
A.
Semester Report
1. Enrollment data shall be submitted to ACE
each semester. Each center will include enrollment verification from each
participating high school. Enrollment and verification forms are available on
the Secondary Technical Center website.
B.
Yearly Reports
1. An annual expenditure report is to be
completed and sent to the Department of Career Education.
2. The center will report to ACE each school
year a list of participating high schools (School Participation
Report).
3. The center will report
to ACE all eligible students enrolled in center programs during the school year
(End-of-Year Report).
4. The center
sponsored by an institution of higher education or having a Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) with an institution of higher education shall report
annually the number of students earning concurrent credit and the number of
hours earned. (Annual Concurrent Credit Report).
IV.
Operations
A.
Secondary Technical Center
Responsibility1. The management,
maintenance, and operation of a secondary technical center shall be the
responsibility of the sponsoring institution or entity in accordance with the
policies established by the SBCE
2.
Failure to properly maintain and operate a secondary center may result, by
recommendation to the SBCE, closure of the center.
3. Each participating high school shall be
guaranteed seats in each program. The individual school's percentage of
10th grade-enrollment calculated from the total
10th grade enrollment of all participating high
schools shall be the method used to determine available seats. Any school not
fulfilling its quota shall relinquish the unfilled seats to other
schools.
B.
Designation of Secondary Technical Center Director
1. Each secondary technical center having a
minimum of six programs must employ a secondary technical center director on a
half-time or full-time basis.
2.
The secondary technical center director must hold a Secondary Technical Center
Director Endorsement (175) or Curriculum Program Administrator (324) or hold a
decree in administration of secondary programs.
3. The secondary technical center director
must have a minimum of 3 years of secondary teaching or administrative
experience.
Secondary Technical Center Council
1. Each secondary technical center shall have
an active secondary technical center council. The council shall be comprised of
superintendents of the sponsoring and local school districts participating in
the secondary technical center along with the director of the center. When a
postsecondary institution is designated as a secondary technical center, the
director or president/chancellor of that institution shall be a member.
Additionally, where secondary technical centers are sponsored by an education
service cooperative, the director shall be a member of the council. The
secondary technical center council shall serve in an advisory capacity for the
secondary technical center in all areas of administration and operation, e.g.,
scheduling, student discipline, program design, etc. The center council may
also assist with determining the capacity of a center.
2. The council serves in advisory capacity
only. The local board of the host institution serves as the governing authority
of the secondary technical center.
C.
Instructor Qualifications
1. Technical instructors teaching at a
college-based secondary technical center must have a minimum of an associate
degree within the area of instruction or related area.
2. Technical instructors must have completed
Arkansas State Police and FBI background checks and meet all college
accrediting standards for instructors.
3. Secondary Technical Centers shall submit
documentation of these records to the Office of Workforce Training,
ACE.
4. Centers will annually
submit a list of instructors providing concurrent credit and upon meeting the
above requirement, these instructors will be given an annual waiver from
teacher licensure requirements.
5.
Instructors not meeting these requirements or instructors teaching
non-concurrent credit classes must hold an Arkansas Teacher's License/Technical
Permit.
D.
Employee Policies
1. The sponsoring
institution/entity shall adopt official employee policies and procedures,
including a salary schedule, sick leave, inclement weather, grievance,
benefits, and other policies. These must be adopted by the start of the second
semester of operation.
E.
Student Handbook
1. The sponsoring institution/entity shall
adopt a student handbook outlining the rules and regulations relating to
discipline, attendance, hand tools, textbooks, OCR Grievance Procedures, and
other matters. These must be adopted by the start of the second semester of
operation.
F.
Class Periods1. Class periods shall
conform to the minimum class hours established by the Standards for
Accreditation of Public Schools and North Central Association (NCA). A minimum
of 60 hours time on task (classroom or lab) for each .5 credit issued. Travel
time will not be counted in the time on task determination. In order to
restructure a program of study, the secondary technical center may work with
the Department of Career Education to implement course designs and class
lengths.
G.
Instruction
1. Each approved program
offered must follow curriculum frameworks and administer student competency
tests.
2. Concurrent credit classes
offered for secondary career and technical credit in a college-based secondary
technical center must have approval and alignment by ACE. Secondary career and
technical education course frameworks must be matched to college classes. One
3-hour college course will equate to .5 Carnegie units.
3. An active advisory council is
required for each occupational program area.
H.
Transportation
1. Responsibility for transporting students
to and from the local school to a secondary technical center shall be
determined by the secondary technical center director and the administration of
the local school district.
I.
Exceptions
1. Expansion of secondary technical centers
into areas not being served is a priority of the Department of Career
Education. The ACE Director may, upon request, make exceptions to the stated
policies when such requests are supported by adequate justification.
V.
Internship
A.
Reporting
for Internship
1. Internship should be
listed on enrollment sheet as a 2-hour FTE.
2. V-TECS reports are to be completed by
September 15 and sent to Career Guidance Office of Arkansas Department of
Career Education. These reports will determine funding eligibility for
vocational center funds. If a student does not meet eligibility criteria, the
center will not receive vocational center funds for that student nor pass-thru
funds for the sending high school.
3. Failure to submit V-TECS reports will
result in withholding vocational center payments until reports are received and
verified for eligibility for vocational center funding;
4. Employment must be within the identified
CTE career major as indicated in V-TECS report.
I.
Definitions
* Access is an attempt for every high school student in
Arkansas to have the opportunity to participate in any of a minimum of three
occupation-specific technical programs offered within 25 miles or 30 minutes of
the home school.
* Capacity of a secondary technical center is determined
by multiplying the number of blocks of occupation-specific programs (two or
three hours) by 20.
* Concurrent credit is received by high school career and
technical education students who take classes offered through an institution of
higher education. These classes will be transcripted by the local high school
for secondary credit and by the institution of higher education for college
credit.
* Eligible student is a student enrolled in grades 10-12
and who is pursuing a program of study in a secondary technical center.
* Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) shall be considered the
equivalent of one student attending class for six class periods per day per
year, e.g., one student attending a three period class the full year would be
equal to one-half FTE.
* Internship is designed to assist students in their
specific career focus areas and to help them successfully transition from
school to career.
* Local districts are the districts in the locality which
are eligible to participate in technical center programs.
* Occupation-specific programs are technical programs
which have paid employment in specific occupations as their objectives.
* Private and/or home-schooled students are eligible to
participate in secondary technical center programs through the local school
district in which they officially reside
* Regional technical center is defined as a secondary
technical center having the same expanded service area as approved by
SBCE.
* Satellite/off-campus location is the extension of a
secondary technical center located outside the boundaries of an existing center
(25 miles or 30 minutes of driving time) or to students in isolated areas.
Satellite locations will be provided by an approved secondary technical center
and must be shared by more than one school district. All satellite locations
require the approval of the SBCE. An off campus location is the extension of a
secondary technical center located inside the boundaries of an existing
center.
* Secondary technical center is a public secondary
technical institution organized for the specific purpose of educating high
school students in specific occupational/technical programs. A center will
serve students from more than one participating high school. Students eligible
to attend a secondary technical center will generally come from a twenty-five
(25) mile radius or thirty (30) minute driving time from the local school. A
secondary technical center must be comprised of three specific technical
programs to begin operation. It must have at least six programs out of five
career clusters in operation by the start of the fourth year.
* Sponsoring institution is a comprehensive high school, a
postsecondary technical institute, a two-year or community/technical college,
an education service cooperative, or any other entity authorized by law that
has been approved by the SBCE. The sponsoring institution will function as the
fiscal agent and will manage and administer the secondary technical center.
(Reference ACA
6-51-301 to
6-51-305
)
