Bill Text: NH SB99 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relative to regional career and technical education agreements.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-22 - Introduced 01/09/2025 and Referred to Education; Senate Journal 3 [SB99 Detail]
Download: New_Hampshire-2025-SB99-Introduced.html
SB 99-FN - AS INTRODUCED
2025 SESSION
25-1103
02/05
SENATE BILL 99-FN
AN ACT relative to regional career and technical education agreements.
SPONSORS: Sen. Watters, Dist 4; Sen. Avard, Dist 12; Sen. Murphy, Dist 16; Sen. Sullivan, Dist 18; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24; Sen. Innis, Dist 7; Sen. Pearl, Dist 17; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Fenton, Dist 10; Sen. Carson, Dist 14; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Rep. Cornell, Hills. 22; Rep. Ladd, Graf. 5; Rep. Cordelli, Carr. 7; Rep. Noble, Hills. 2
COMMITTEE: Education
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ANALYSIS
This bill extends access to career and technical education and requires regional CTE agreements to include an access program for full and part time students.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
25-1103
02/05
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five
AN ACT relative to regional career and technical education agreements.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
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 with the school calendars of CTE programs at the receiving school. 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 an equal basis as students from receiving districts. RCTEA schools 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 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 schools to enroll either part-time or full time in academic courses at the receiving school.
(a) Student eligible to participate in a receiving school 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 students 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 schools shall pay to receiving schools 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 schools shall pay to receiving schools 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 students shall have access to non-CTE courses at the receiving school on the same basis as receiving school students.
(f) Sending schools of part-time and full-time program students shall provide transportation to and from receiving schools.
3 New Paragraph; Costs of Students Attending Career and Technical Education Programs. Amend RSA 188-E:6 by inserting after paragraph IV the following new paragraph:
V. The state shall provide funding for students qualified to attend a receiving school under RSA 188-E:1-a, VI.
4 Tuition. Amend RSA 188-E:7, I to read as follows:
I. The department of education is authorized to pay from its regular budget tuition for full or part-time sending district students, attending programs at designated career and technical education centers or designated career and technical education programs at other comprehensive high schools, whose residence is in a district where the high school of normal attendance does not offer a similar career and technical education program, including students qualified to attend a receiving school under RSA 188-E:1-a, VI. Students attending a non-public school or chartered public school, the location of which is in closer proximity to a regional CTE center than the school to which their district of residence would send students for CTE, may enroll in the regional CTE center in closer proximity to the non-public school or chartered public school the student attends.
5 Effective Date. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.
25-1103
1/19/25
SB 99-FN- FISCAL NOTE
AS INTRODUCED
AN ACT relative to regional career and technical education agreements.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The Office of Legislative Budget Assistant is unable to complete a fiscal note for this bill as it is awaiting information from the Department of Education. The Department was contacted on 1/8/25 for a fiscal note worksheet. When completed, the fiscal note will be forwarded to the Senate Clerk's Office.
AGENCIES CONTACTED:
Department of Education
