2018 Connecticut General Statutes
Title 10 - Education and Culture
Chapter 164 - Educational Opportunities
Section 10-95i - Long-range plan of priorities and goals for the Technical Education and Career System. Trade programs. Capital improvement and capital equipment plan.

(a) Not later than January 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter, the Technical Education and Career System board shall adopt a long-range plan of priorities and goals for the Technical Education and Career System. The plan shall address coordination with other providers of vocational, technical, technological or postsecondary education or training and shall include (1) an analysis of the activities described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section and how such activities relate to the long-range plan of priorities and goals, and (2) a summary of activities related to capital improvements and equipment pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Upon adoption of the plan, the board shall file the plan directly with the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, finance, revenue and bonding and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a. The state board shall use the plan in preparing its five-year comprehensive plan pursuant to subsection (c) of section 10-4.

(b) During the five-year period beginning January 1, 2020, and during each five-year period thereafter, the board shall evaluate each existing technical education and career school trade program in accordance with a schedule which the board shall establish. A trade program may be reauthorized for a period of not more than five years following each evaluation on the basis of: The projected employment demand for students enrolled in the trade program, including consideration of the employment of graduates of the program during the preceding five years; anticipated technological changes; the availability of qualified instructors; the existence of similar programs at other educational institutions; and student interest in the trade program. As part of the evaluation, the board shall consider geographic differences that may make a trade program feasible at one school and not another and whether certain combinations of program offerings shall be required. Prior to any final decision on the reauthorization of a trade program, the board shall consult with the craft committees for the trade program being evaluated.

(c) The board shall consider the addition of new trade programs. Decisions by the board to add such programs shall at a minimum be based on the projected employment demand for graduates of the program, the cost of establishing the program, the availability of qualified instructors, the existence of similar programs at other educational institutions and the interest of students in the trade. The board shall authorize new trade programs for a maximum of five years. The board shall provide a process for the public, including, but not limited to, employers, parents, students or teachers, to request consideration of the establishment of a new trade program.

(d) The board shall maintain a rolling three-year capital improvement and capital equipment plan that identifies: (1) Alterations, renovations and repairs that each technical education and career school is expected to need, including, but not limited to, grounds and athletic fields, heating and ventilation systems, wiring, roofs, and windows, and the cost of such projects, (2) recommendations for energy efficiency improvements to each school and the cost of such improvements, and (3) the specific equipment each technical education and career school is expected to need, based on the useful life of existing equipment and projections of changing technology and the estimated cost of the equipment. The board shall submit such plan, annually, directly to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, finance, revenue and bonding and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a.

(P.A. 88-330, S. 2, 5; P.A. 93-376, S. 9, 13; P.A. 00-204, S. 1, 2, 13; P.A. 03-76, S. 34; P.A. 12-116, S. 78; P.A. 15-189, S. 1; 15-215, S. 14; P.A. 17-237, S. 60.)

History: P.A. 93-376 amended Subsec. (a) to include coordination with other providers of “technological” education, amended Subsec. (b) to delete a requirement to hold a public hearing on the reauthorization of a trade program and a requirement that the plan be updated and submitted annually to the general assembly and made technical changes, effective July 1, 1993; P.A. 00-204 amended Subsec. (a) to add Subdiv. indicators, to include in Subdiv. (1) a summary of activities related to capital improvements, to add Subdiv. (2) re equipment and to make a technical change, and amended Subsec. (d) to make existing provision Subdiv. (3), to add Subdivs. (1) re alterations, renovations and repairs and (2) re recommendations for energy efficiency improvements, and to add the requirement that report be submitted to the committees of the General Assembly, effective July 1, 2000; P.A. 03-76 made technical changes in Subsec. (a), effective June 3, 2003; P.A. 12-116 replaced references to regional vocational-technical school system and schools with references to technical high school system and schools, effective July 1, 2012; P.A. 15-189 amended Subsec. (d) by replacing “five-year” with “three-year” re plan, effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 15-215 replaced references to “State Board of Education” and “state board” with “technical high school system board” and “board” throughout, amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “1990” with “2020” and adding “directly” and reference to Sec. 11-4a, amended Subsec. (b) by replacing “1990” with “2020”, and amended Subsec. (d) by replacing “five-year” with “three-year” re plan and adding “directly” and reference to Sec. 11-4a, effective July 1, 2015; P.A. 17-237 replaced references to technical high school system and technical high school with references to Technical Education and Career System and technical education and career school, respectively, and amended Subsec. (a) by adding “or postsecondary” and making a conforming change, effective July 1, 2017.