Revision: March 6, 2025, 8:18 a.m.
Sen. Watters, Dist 4
March 5, 2025
2025-0788s
08/09
Floor Amendment to SB 99-FN
Amend the bill by replacing sections 1-2 with the following:
1 Regional Career and Technical Education Agreements. Amend RSA 188-E:1-a, III to read as follows:
III. Each RCTEA shall include a calendar conformity agreement to comply with RSA 188-E:5, VII(a) and (b) by aligning the school calendars of sending [schools] districts with the school calendars of CTE programs at the receiving [school] district. Agreements shall minimize schedule conflicts to better support CTE students with as many hours as possible to fulfill their program requirements. Agreements should address schedule alignment needs such as: disruptions due to differing start/stop times, unscheduled school closures or events, and daily class start/stop times. Students from sending districts shall have access to CTE programming on a basis consistent with resident district pupils. RCTEA [schools] sending and receiving districts are encouraged to align teacher in-service days to allow joint ventures in teacher professional development and other educational initiatives. There may not be more than 10 instructional days following Labor Day through the last student day of the school calendar year on which one or more of the school calendars of the districts within the agreement are not aligned. When CTE regions overlap, or students attend programs in more than one CTE, the provisions of this section shall apply to both regional centers. The commissioner shall not approve a RCTEA that does not comply with this paragraph, however a RCTEA may contain provisions for waiver by the commissioner of dissimilar days for extenuating or emergency purposes. If the commissioner determines that all [schools] districts within the RCTEA have plans and are reasonably working towards the implementation of an aligned calendar to ensure compliance with this paragraph, an annual waiver may be approved, but a waiver for this purpose shall not be extended beyond July 1, 2026.
2 New Paragraph; Regional Career and Technical Education Agreements. Amend RSA 188-E:1-a by inserting after paragraph V the following new paragraph:
VI. Each RCTEA shall develop a CTE access program ("program") by January 1, 2026, to allow students from sending districts to enroll either part-time or full time in non-CTE courses at the receiving district.
(a) Student eligible to participate in a receiving district's program shall have been accepted and enrolled in one or more CTE class at the receiving school.
(b) Students seeking participation in the program shall be eligible for and have access to both sending and receiving RCTEA apportionment seats on the same basis as any other sending or receiving district student.
(c) Sending school district taking fewer than 3 non-CTE classes shall be considered part-time and shall be designated part-time program students.
(d) Students taking 3 or more non-CTE classes shall be considered full-time and shall be designated full time program students.
(e) Tuition for part-time program students and full-time program students shall be as follows:
(1) For part-time program students, sending districts shall pay to receiving districts an amount equal to not less than 80 percent of that district's average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the district to the department, divided by 5 times the number of credits that the part-time program student is enrolled in.
(2) For full-time program students, sending districts shall pay to receiving districts an amount equal to not less than 80 percent of that district's average cost per pupil as determined by the department of education using the most recent available data as reported by the district to the department.
(3) Part-time and full-time program districts shall have access to non-CTE courses at the receiving district on the same basis as receiving school students.
(f) Sending districts of part-time and full-time program students shall provide transportation to and from receiving district.
(g) All expenses incurred by a receiving district in providing services to a student in need of special education and related services shall be paid by the school district where the child resides.