Kentucky 2024 2024 Regular Session

Kentucky House Bill HB499 Enrolled / Bill

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AN ACT relating to career and technical education funding, making an 1 
appropriation therefor, and declaring an emergency. 2 
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky: 3 
SECTION 1.   KRS 157.069 IS REPEALED AND REENACTED TO READ 4 
AS FOLLOWS: 5 
(1) As used in this section: 6 
(a) "Administrative operations costs" means costs associated with the 7 
operations and staffing of a state-operated area technology center, 8 
including but not limited to personnel, facility costs, building utilities and 9 
maintenance, and custodial and office supplies; 10 
(b) "Approved career and technical education dual credit" means earning a 11 
grade of "C" or higher for a Kentucky Department of Education-approved 12 
career and technical education dual credit course equivalent to three (3) 13 
hours of college credit; 14 
(c) "Approved career and technical education pathway" means a four (4) 15 
course career and technical education pathway approved by the Kentucky 16 
Department of Education that provides a coherent, articulated sequence of 17 
rigorous academic and career-related courses within a career and technical 18 
education program area, and leads to an associate degree, an industry-19 
recognized certificate or license, or a baccalaureate or higher degree; 20 
(d) "Concentrator" means a student who has earned at least two (2) credits for 21 
no less than two (2) courses in a single career and technical education 22 
pathway; 23 
(e) "Converted career and technical education center" means a center 24 
providing locally operated career and technical education for which a local 25 
district assumed authority from the state for the management and control of 26 
the center during the 2020-2021, 2021-2022, or 2022-2023 academic years; 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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(f) "General-cost career and technical education program" means a career 1 
and technical education program or pathway in which high-cost technical 2 
equipment, materials, or facilities are not required; 3 
(g) "General-cost full-time equivalents" means the total number of secondary 4 
students enrolled in general-cost career and technical education programs, 5 
multiplied by the number of hours those students are enrolled, and divided 6 
by six (6) hours; 7 
(h) "High-cost career and technical education program" means a career and 8 
technical education program or pathway in which high-cost equipment, 9 
materials, or facilities are required; 10 
(i) "Locally operated career and technical education" means a district 11 
program that provides secondary students with one (1) or more approved 12 
career and technical education pathways; 13 
(j) "State-operated area technology center" means a state-operated secondary 14 
school facility with the primary purpose of offering approved career and 15 
technical education pathways; 16 
(k) "Supplemental funding" or "supplemental funds" means moneys 17 
appropriated by the General Assembly to support qualifying locally operated 18 
career and technical education centers and programs and state-operated 19 
area technology centers and programs based on enrollment and incentive 20 
criteria;  21 
(l) "Technical skill attainment" means earning an industry-recognized 22 
certification, licensure, or credential as identified by the Kentucky 23 
Workforce Innovation Board pursuant to KRS 158.6455(1)(e) or passing an 24 
end-of-program assessment for articulated postsecondary credit as 25 
designated by the Kentucky Department of Education Office of Career and 26 
Technical Education; 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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(m) "Weighted high-cost full-time equivalents" means the total number of 1 
secondary students enrolled in high-cost career and technical education 2 
programs, multiplied by the number of credit hours in which those students 3 
are enrolled, divided by six (6) hours, and multiplied by one and one-half 4 
(1.5); and 5 
(n) "Work-based learning program" means a cooperative education program, 6 
internship, or registered apprenticeship within the student's chosen 7 
approved career and technical education pathway. 8 
(2) The Kentucky Department of Education shall provide funds from the 9 
department's annual general fund appropriation to support the administrative 10 
operations costs of state-operated area technology centers and converted career 11 
and technical education centers. 12 
(3) For converted career and technical education centers, beginning with fiscal year 13 
2024-2025, the Kentucky Department of Education shall deduct from funds 14 
designated for the state-operated area technology centers an amount equal to the 15 
administrative operations costs of each converted career and technical education 16 
center in the amount received by the center in the most recent fiscal year that the 17 
center was under state management and control. The funds for each converted 18 
career and technical education center shall be divided as follows: 19 
(a) Seventy-five percent (75%) of the funds shall be sent to the local district that 20 
has assumed management and control of the center; and 21 
(b) Twenty-five percent (25%) of the funds shall be sent to the career and 22 
technical education innovation and support fund established in subsection 23 
(4) of this section. 24 
(4) (a) There is hereby established in the State Treasury a restricted fund to be 25 
known as the career and technical education innovation and support fund 26 
to receive the funds allocated under subsection (3)(b) of this section. The 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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fund shall consist of moneys received from state appropriations, gifts, 1 
grants, and federal funds. The fund shall be administered by the Office of 2 
Career and Technical Education. Amounts deposited in the fund shall be 3 
used for: 4 
1. Supporting innovation in new or emerging career fields; 5 
2. Supporting state-operated area technology centers that may 6 
experience hardship or natural disasters; 7 
3. Personnel costs to provide technical assistance to local districts 8 
providing locally operated career and technical education, including 9 
technical assistance relating to the monitoring and oversight on the 10 
use of supplemental career and technical education funding; and 11 
4. Any other purposes reasonably related to improving student outcomes 12 
in career and technical education. 13 
(b) Notwithstanding KRS 45.229, fund amounts not expended at the close of a 14 
fiscal year shall not lapse but shall be carried forward into the next fiscal 15 
year. 16 
(5) Beginning with the 2024-2025 fiscal year and for each fiscal year thereafter, the 17 
Kentucky Department of Education shall distribute to local districts providing 18 
locally operated career and technical education and to state-operated area 19 
technology centers all general funds designated as supplemental funds to career 20 
and technical education programs, subject to the following: 21 
(a) A local district providing locally operated career and technical education or 22 
a state-operated area technology center shall maintain eligibility for receipt 23 
of federal funding pursuant to the Strengthening Career and Technical 24 
Education for the 21st Century Act, Pub. L. No. 115-224, to be eligible to 25 
receive supplemental funding pursuant to this subsection; 26 
(b) All supplemental funds distributed pursuant to this subsection shall be used 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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to improve student outcomes in career and technical education pathways for 1 
students in grades nine (9) through twelve (12), including but not limited to 2 
student supplies, resources, materials, and equipment that is designed for 3 
enhanced quality of instruction in a career and technical education 4 
pathway, the purchase and maintenance of industry standard equipment, 5 
assisting students with achieving technical skill attainment, and supporting 6 
career and technical student organization participation; 7 
(c) 1. Supplemental funds for career and technical education shall be 8 
divided and allocated to each local district providing locally operated 9 
career and technical education and to each state-operated area 10 
technology center, with sixty percent (60%) dedicated for enrollment-11 
based funding and forty percent (40%) for incentive-based funding.  12 
2. The sixty percent (60%) enrollment-based funding shall be based on a 13 
statewide full-time equivalent calculation of the total weighted high-14 
cost full-time equivalents and general-cost full-time equivalents 15 
during the prior school year, subject to the following: 16 
a. The department shall then distribute the enrollment-based funds 17 
for each state-operated area technology center or local district 18 
providing locally operated career and technical education based 19 
on the center's or district's proportional share of the combined 20 
weighted high-cost full-time equivalents and general-cost full-21 
time equivalents of the prior year; 22 
b. The department shall distribute the state-operated area 23 
technology center fund portion to the respective state-operated 24 
area technology centers and the local district fund portion to the 25 
respective local districts; and 26 
c. The department shall classify qualifying programs as either a 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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high-cost career and technical education program or a general-1 
cost career and technical education program. 2 
3. The forty percent (40%) incentives-based funding shall be based on an 3 
annual statewide calculation of the total number of qualifying student 4 
incentives. The calculation shall only use students that are in grade 5 
twelve (12) and use the total incentives earned by those students 6 
during secondary education at a state-operated area technology center 7 
or within a local district. Once a student has been included in a year’s 8 
calculation, that student shall not be included in any subsequent 9 
year’s calculation, subject to the following: 10 
a. Qualifying student incentives for students in their grade twelve 11 
(12) year shall include: 12 
i. Reaching the designation of a concentrator; 13 
ii. Technical skill attainment; 14 
iii. Completing a required number of hours or achieving a 15 
benchmark within a work-based learning program; and 16 
iv. Earning an approved career and technical education dual 17 
credit; 18 
b. The incentives in subdivision a. of this subparagraph shall be 19 
allotted to the state-operated area technology center or local 20 
district in which it was earned. Each type of incentive shall only 21 
be counted once per student at state-operated area technology 22 
centers and once per student at local districts for a maximum of 23 
four (4) incentives per student at state-operated area technology 24 
centers and four (4) incentives at local districts throughout their 25 
secondary career and technical education. For incentive criteria 26 
that is achieved more than once at state-operated area 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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technology centers, the incentive shall be counted for the state-1 
operated area technology center where it was first achieved. For 2 
incentive criteria that is achieved more than once at local 3 
districts, the incentive shall be counted for the local district 4 
where it was first achieved; 5 
c. The department shall distribute incentives-based funds for each 6 
state-operated area technology center or local district based on 7 
the center's or district's proportional share of the combined 8 
number of qualifying student incentives achieved by students in 9 
grade twelve (12) at a state-operated area technology center or 10 
within a local district throughout their secondary career and 11 
technical education. The incentives-based funds shall be 12 
distributed to the state-operated area technology center or local 13 
district in which the incentive was achieved; and 14 
d. The department shall distribute the state-operated area 15 
technology center fund portion to the respective state-operated 16 
area technology centers and the local district fund portion to the 17 
respective local districts; 18 
(d) There shall be no mid-year adjustment to the allocation of career and 19 
technical education supplemental funding for a center or local district; and 20 
(e) Notwithstanding the restriction in paragraph (b) of this subsection, a district 21 
may submit a waiver request to the Office of Career and Technical 22 
Education to use a portion of its allocation of supplemental funds for career 23 
and technical education programming for students in grades (5) through 24 
eight (8). The district shall submit a request which details the district's plan 25 
for career and technical education programming for students in grades five 26 
(5) through eight (8). In reviewing the request, the Office of Career and 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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Technical Education shall consider whether: 1 
1. The district details a plan for orientation and exploration of broad-2 
based industries by giving students knowledge and experience 3 
regarding careers within these industries and exploratory or hands-on 4 
skills used in the industry; 5 
2. There is direct alignment between middle and secondary career and 6 
technical education pathways within the requesting district; and 7 
3. Such designation of supplemental funding for programming for 8 
students in grades five (5) through eight (8) does not have a 9 
significant detrimental impact on the programming available for 10 
students in secondary grades. 11 
(6) The Office of Career and Technical Education shall monitor and provide 12 
oversight of state funds distributed pursuant to this section to ensure that the use 13 
of funding by eligible recipients meets the approved criteria as described in this 14 
section. 15 
(7) The Kentucky Board of Education shall promulgate administrative regulations in 16 
accordance with KRS Chapter 13A as may be needed in the administration of this 17 
section and for disbursement of moneys. 18 
(8) The Kentucky Department of Education shall publish on the department's 19 
website: 20 
(a) The list of all career and technical education programs available to students 21 
and the program's designation as a high-cost career and technical 22 
education program or as a general-cost career and technical education 23 
program; 24 
(b) A report of the supplemental funding amounts provided to each local 25 
district and to each state-operated area technology center, including an 26 
explanation of the amount designated as enrollment-based funding and as 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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incentives-based funding; and 1 
(c) A report of the administrative operations costs provided to each state-2 
operated area technology center and to each converted career and technical 3 
education center, as well as the amount contributed toward the career and 4 
technical education innovation and support fund. 5 
Section 2.   (1) To the extent that funds are made available for this purpose, 6 
a local board of education shall provide a one-time award to any employee of a converted 7 
career and technical education center as defined in subsection (1)(e) of Section 1 of this 8 
Act who was employed by the converted career and technical education center at the time 9 
of conversion and who remains employed by the same local board of education that 10 
assumed operational control. The one-time award shall be an amount up to 14.48 percent 11 
of the employee's salary at the time of conversion, which is based on the raises 12 
subsequently provided for executive branch state employees and shall provide the 13 
qualifying employees what they would have received had the career and technical 14 
education center remained under state operation. The award amount shall be calculated 15 
by the Kentucky Department of Education for each qualifying employee. 16 
(2) A local board of education shall request reimbursement for the amount of one-17 
time award payments made pursuant to this section from the fund to support education 18 
excellence in Kentucky established in KRS 157.330. If the amount appropriated for 19 
reimbursement of award payments is insufficient, then each award shall be reduced 20 
proportionally. 21 
(3) The Kentucky Department of Education shall ensure equitable distribution of 22 
funds under this section. 23 
(4) Notwithstanding the payment provided in subsection (1) of this section being 24 
a one-time award, a local board of education may recognize the one-time award amount 25 
as reflective of the appropriate annual salary for an employee receiving the award under 26 
the conditions established by subsection (1) of this section, and may use resources 27  UNOFFICIAL COPY  	24 RS HB 499/EN 
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available to the local board of education to increase an employee's annual salary 1 
accordingly. 2 
Section 3.   There is hereby appropriated General Fund moneys in the amount of 3 
$170,000 in fiscal year 2023-2024 to the Learning and Results Services budget unit to 4 
support the payment of awards set forth in Section 2 of this Act. 5 
Section 4.   Whereas it is critical to ensure that funding for career and technical 6 
education is equitable across the state, aligns with fiscal years, reflects student 7 
enrollment, and fosters successful outcomes in workforce preparation, an emergency is 8 
declared to exist, and Sections 2 and 3 of this Act take effect upon its passage and 9 
approval by the Governor or upon its otherwise becoming a law, and Section 1 of this Act 10 
takes effect on July 1, 2024. 11