Code of Massachusetts Regulations
603 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Title 603 CMR 4.00 - Vocational Technical Education
Section 4.03 - Program Approval Criteria and Operational Requirements

1. Program Advisory Committee. Each school committee shall appoint a Program Advisory Committee for each program area under its control. The Program Advisory Committee shall consist of representatives of local business and industry related to the program, organized labor, postsecondary institutions, parents/guardians, students and representatives from registered apprenticeship programs if the program area has such registered programs; provided however, that no member of the school committee, or other school official or school personnel shall serve on the committee. Every effort shall be made to promote membership on the Advisory Committee that includes females, racial and linguistic minorities, persons with disabilities and individuals in occupations nontraditional for their gender who are representative of the particular district or community served by the school. The members shall appoint a facilitator who in most cases would be a program teacher or a program supervisor/director. The Program Advisory Committee shall meet at least twice per year. Meetings shall comply with the Open Meeting Law, M.G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18 through 25. It shall be the responsibility of the Program Advisory Committee to advise, assist and support school personnel in order to improve planning, operation and evaluation in its program area. Such advice shall be based on adequate and timely information as to workforce and job development demands or job market trends, technological developments, training alternatives and other factors affecting the quality of the program.

2. General Advisory Committee. Each school committee shall appoint a General Advisory Committee for all vocational technical education programs under its control. The General Advisory Committee shall include, but not be limited to, chairpersons of the program advisory committees. Every effort shall be made to promote membership on the General Advisory Committee that includes females, racial and linguistic minorities, persons with disabilities and individuals in occupations nontraditional for their gender who are representative of the particular district or community served by the school. The General Advisory Committee shall meet at least twice per year, provided that one of the meetings is with the school committee. Meetings shall comply with the Open Meeting Law, M.G.L. c. 30A, §§ 18 through 25. It shall be the responsibility of the General Advisory Committee to advise the school committee, based on adequate and timely information, as to the planning, operation and evaluation of vocational technical instruction provided by programs under its control. The chief administrative officer of the school committee, or designee, shall act as facilitator to the General Advisory Committee.

1. be based on the applicable Vocational Technical Education Framework and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks;

2. be of sufficient scope to address the applicable Vocational Technical Education Framework, and provide a minimum of 900 program hours, or as otherwise specified in the applicable Vocational Technical Education Framework;

3. include a sequence of courses building on past knowledge and skills across grade levels;

4. include competency-based applied learning that contributes to a student's higher order reasoning and problem solving skills;

5. integrate academic and technical instruction through the efforts of technical and academic teachers who share responsibility for the development of the knowledge and skills of their students;

6. be articulated, where appropriate, with postsecondary education programs, including registered apprenticeship programs;

7. include program specific work-based experience wherever appropriate and feasible;

8. meet National Occupational Program Approval Standards as set forth in Department guidelines;

9. meet state board/agency approvals, accreditation association approvals as set forth in Department guidelines;

10. include related instruction that shall be primarily taught by licensed vocational technical teachers in the specific program area. Academic teachers may assist in the delivery of related instruction components when their particular expertise will enhance the instruction;

11. be free of bias and stereotyping;

12. include a comprehensive safety and health plan, which includes safety training for all students and staff;

13. be taught by appropriately licensed teachers; and

14. be scheduled so that vocational technical shop instruction, if scheduled as a full school day, does not exceed ten consecutive full school days. Shop instruction scheduled for ten consecutive full school days or less must be scheduled for at least the same number of full school days of academic instruction before beginning another schedule of shop instruction.

1. The process for application and admission to the school, as well as admission to particular programs within the school, including any criteria, lotteries, or other processes to be used in selecting students;

2. A plan that includes deliberate, specific strategies to promote equal educational opportunities and attract, enroll, and retain a student population that, when compared to students in similar grades in sending districts, has a comparable academic and demographic profile;

3. A description of the exploratory program, if such program is required by 603 CMR 4.03(4)(e); and

4. A process for prospective students and parents/guardians to appeal to the superintendent or their designee the decision to deny the prospective student admission to the school or program. The superintendent or their designee shall maintain documentation as to the specific admission requirements that were used to deny admission, and shall provide such documentation to the Department or to the prospective student's parent/guardian upon request.

Vocational schools and programs that use selective criteria shall not use criteria that have the effect of disproportionately excluding persons of a particular race, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion, or disability, unless they demonstrate that such criteria have been validated as essential to participation in vocational programs; and alternative equally valid criteria that do not have such a disproportionate adverse effect are unavailable. Selective criteria shall be approved annually by the school's board of trustees or school committee.

Vocational technical schools and programs shall maintain a record of all students who apply for admission, enroll in the school, or are placed on a waitlist, and their score on admission criteria, if used, to facilitate an analysis and evaluation of the admissions system and its compliance with 603 CMR 4.03(6). The school or program shall provide such information to the Department upon request.

The Department may intervene in cases where the admissions policies and practices of vocational technical schools and programs do not comply with applicable state and federal laws and regulations, and order compliance actions, including revisions to, or replacement of, existing admission policies. Such intervention may include a requirement that such vocational technical schools and programs institute an admissions lottery.

Sending districts shall offer vocational schools and programs opportunities to provide middle school students with information about vocational programs and careers on-site at their middle schools, as well as through mail and email. Sending districts may not count middle school student tours of vocational schools or programs during the school day as unexcused absences if the vocational school or program confirms the student's participation.

1. Students who reside in cities and towns that do not maintain a ninth grade exploratory program may apply for admission to a school of another city, town or district offering an exploratory program. Ninth grade students who reside in cities and towns that offer an approved exploratory program shall attend the exploratory program provided by the district of residence; provided however, that students may apply for nonresident admission for the purpose of exploring aviation maintenance technology, or specialized agriculture and natural resources programs, or concentrations therein, designated by the Commissioner, and not available in the student's district of residence.

2. Nonresident students shall submit an application of admission to the receiving school no later than March 15th of the preceding school year and shall be subject to the admissions criteria of the receiving school. A nonresident student must submit the Chapter 74 Vocational Technical Education Program Nonresident Student Tuition Application to the district of residence no later than April 1st of the preceding school year. If a student moves to a nonresident district after April 1st, the student shall submit a new Chapter 74 Vocational Technical Education Program Nonresident Student Tuition Application to their district of residence as soon as practicable. Upon receipt of the application, the superintendent in the district of residence must either approve or disapprove the application and submit it to the receiving school and the nonresident student's parent/guardian within ten school days of receipt. If the application is disapproved, the reason for disapproval must be clearly stated. The nonresident student's parent or guardian may request that the Department review the disapproval. The request for a review and any supporting documentation shall be submitted in writing to the Department no later than May 1st, or in the event of a student move after April 1st, within 14 school days of the application's disapproval. The decision of the Commissioner shall be final. In making the decision, the Commissioner shall take into consideration the following:

3. Once a nonresident student has been accepted to a receiving school for an approved vocational technical program and has been approved by the district of residence or the Department, the city or town of residence shall pay tuition to the receiving school at the rate established by the Department. The receiving school shall notify a nonresident student in writing that admission is program specific and that a change in program by a nonresident student will require the submission of a new Chapter 74 Vocational Technical Education Program Nonresident Student Tuition Application. The nonresident student is entitled to the same rights and privileges of students who reside in the receiving school district, including the right to remain in the receiving school until completion of their secondary program, unless the student changes their program or moves out of their district of residence. If the nonresident student requires additional time to complete the program and a resident student would have been offered the right to continue until completion at the expense of member districts, the city or town of residence must continue to pay tuition for the additional time. If a nonresident student leaves the program, but returns within one year, the student shall be entitled to be reinstated if that privilege would have been extended to a resident student. Schools must prorate the tuition if the student attends for less than a full year.

4. In instances where there is no tuition agreement in place between sending and receiving districts, the Commissioner shall establish tuition rates for the purposes of M.G.L. c. 74, § 7C. In calculating and establishing said tuition rates the Commissioner:

1. be supervised by a person holding a Vocational Technical Cooperative Education Coordinator license or Vocational Technical Teacher license in the cooperative education program area;

2. enroll only those students who are enrolled in an approved vocational technical education program and who have demonstrated the acquisition of the knowledge and skills in the applicable Vocational Technical Education Framework and the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks associated with at least 11/2 years of full-time study in the vocational technical cooperative education program area, and in no case enroll students earlier than midway through the junior year;

3. be offered only during time not scheduled for academic classes during the school year, and may include summer programs;

4. provide students the opportunity to acquire knowledge, and develop skills not acquirable in a school-based setting, but acquirable in a work-based setting;

5. provide competency-based assessments;

6. provide students with continuous supervision by the employer;

7. provide students with vocational technical credit;

8. provide a written agreement between the school, employer, student and parent/guardian delineating the conditions of the employment including, but not limited to, hours, wages and time-off. The agreement shall include the skills to be acquired by the student. The employer shall agree to meet all applicable requirements of state and federal labor laws and regulations including, but not limited to, those addressing worker compensation insurance, equal employment opportunity and occupational safety and health;

9. provide a safety and health orientation specific to the site for all employee-students; and

10. provide sufficient supervisory visit time between the student, employer and the school's cooperative education coordinator or appropriate vocational technical teacher. Supervision shall be coordinated to allow for the joint participation by all parties, including the vocational technical teacher. The school's cooperative education coordinator or vocational technical teacher shall conduct regular supervisory activities at the work site to see that the agreement is being followed and to update the student's competency attainment file.