258.1 Federal Act accepted.

The provisions of the Act of Congress entitled "An Act to provide for the promotion of vocational education; to provide for co-operation with the states in the promotion of such education in agriculture and in the trades and industries; to provide for co-operation with the states in the preparation of teachers of vocational subjects; and to appropriate money and regulate its expenditure", approved February 23, 1917, [39 Stat. L. 929; 20 U.S.C., ch 2] and all amendments thereto and the benefit of all funds appropriated under said Act and all other Acts pertaining to vocational education, are accepted.

258.10 Powers of district boards.

1. The board of directors of a school district may carry on prevocational and vocational instruction in subjects relating to agriculture, commerce, industry, and home economics, and pay the expense of such instruction in the same way as the expenses for other subjects in the public schools are paid.

2. The board of directors of a school district may establish and maintain school-to-work programs including alternative learning opportunities through which students may obtain skills or training outside the classroom. School-to- work programs include, but are not limited to, the following:

a. Short-term job shadowing opportunities for students to explore career interests by observing work at a workplace or to include a series of visits to various workplaces and time spent with individual workers to observe specific jobs.

b. Structured work experiences integrating school and work-based experiences in an internship that may be an extension of a job shadowing experience.

c. Mentoring experiences providing students with a formal relationship with a worksite role model who shares career insights and teaches students specific work-related skills.

d. Career-oriented work experiences tied to school lessons through formal or informal training agreements, formal learning plans or mentoring, by workplace personnel who may be paid or unpaid, and which may earn students credit toward graduation.

e. Structured on-the-job training or apprenticeships for students who are enrolled in a technical or professional program that leads to a high school diploma, advanced certificate of mastery, or associate degree.

f. Work experiences available to students in school and community placements directly supervised by a school district or community college staff member.

3. The board may provide workers' compensation coverage by insuring, or self-insuring as provided in section 87.4, students participating in unpaid school-to-work programs. A school district's liability to students injured while participating in an unpaid school-to-work program is as provided in section 85.20.

258.11 Salary and expenses for administration.

The director may make expenditures for salaries of assistants, actual expenses of the board and the director and the state council incurred in the discharge of their duties, and other expenses as necessary to the proper administration of this chapter.

258.12 Custodian of funds--reports.

The treasurer of state shall be custodian of the funds paid to the state from the appropriations made under said Act of Congress, and shall disburse the same on vouchers audited as provided by law. The treasurer of state shall report the receipts and disbursements of said funds to the general assembly at each biennial session.

258.13 Biennial report.

The director of the department of education shall embrace in the director's biennial report a full report of all receipts and expenditures under this chapter, together with such observations relative to vocational education as may be deemed of value.

258.14 Vocational youth organization fund.

Repealed by 94 Acts, ch 1091, §25.

258.15 State plan continued.

Repealed by 94 Acts, ch 1091, §25.

258.16 Regional vocational education planning boards established--duties.

1. Regional planning boards are established to assist school corporations in providing an effective, efficient, and economical means of delivering sequential vocational educational programs for students in grades seven through fourteen, which use both local school district services and merged area school services.

2. A regional planning board shall be established in each merged area, as determined by the state board for vocational education. Each regional planning board shall have as members persons who are representatives from the merged area school board of directors, the area education agency board of directors, the local councils on vocational education, the local school districts' boards of directors, and vocational education certificated instructional personnel.

3. The regional planning boards shall do all of the following:

a. Provide for the participation of merged area schools and the local school districts in the delivery of vocational education in the region, as well as for the participation of representatives of the business and industry community.

b. Determine the occupational needs of students based on labor-market, entrepreneurial, and self-employment opportunities and demand within the region, the state, the nation, and in other countries.

c. Provide for development of a five-year plan addressing the delivery of quality vocational education instructional programs pursuant to section 256.11, subsection 4, and subsection 5, paragraph "h", and section 260C.14, subsection 1. The plan shall be updated annually.

d. Implement the procedures and contract, at the request of the director of the board of vocational education, for the delivery of vocational education programs and services pursuant to section 256.11, subsection 4, and subsection 5, paragraph "h", and section 260C.14, subsection 1.

258.17 Community-based workplace learning program--workstart.

1. A community-based workplace learning program, called "workstart", is established as a voluntary collaborative educational program between business and Iowa's secondary and postsecondary education system designed to provide the means by which students can be better prepared to enter the workforce. The program is to provide all participating high school students with academic skills and appropriate competency-based job-specific skills needed to enter high performance workplace employment through a jointly planned and supervised instructional and worksite-based training program that is articulated with postsecondary advanced programs of preparation, United States department of labor-approved apprenticeship programs, and other appropriate job training programs. Schools and school districts are encouraged to work with current employers of students attending instruction in the schools or school districts in order to articulate educational programming with the work experiences of the students. The workstart program is designed to prepare students for employment in occupations which not only require high skill levels but which also offer students opportunities within those occupations for career and personal advancement.

2. Each school or school district that desires to establish a workstart program shall appoint a local employment and training council, the members of which shall serve at the pleasure of the board of directors of the district or the authorities in charge of the nonpublic school. The majority of the council members shall be local secondary and postsecondary educators. Other council members shall include, but are not limited to, members of the business community and chamber of commerce, appropriate labor representatives, parents, and representatives from any local municipal, county, state, or federal job placement or training agencies. The council shall identify and assess all of the following:

a. The types of high performance workplace employment opportunities for individuals who live in the community.

b. The skills, knowledge, and attitudes required by employers for placement in entry level and advanced positions.

c. The private and institutional resources necessary and available to provide the appropriate high school training and advanced educational offerings for persons seeking to acquire job skills for the positions.

The council, in identifying and assessing high performance workplace employment opportunities, shall consult with local and regional job placement organizations and take into consideration possible job placement trends and opportunities that may become available to program participants. The council shall consult with the vocational regional planning board or consortia to determine what educational resources are available within the merged area and to ascertain the occupational needs of local students. The council shall summarize those jobs, skills, and resources identified and assessed and develop a proposed plan for utilization of available resources to permit the acquisition of those skills in a workstart program. In addition to any agreements with local businesses, the proposed plan for a workstart program shall include an articulated, sequential plan that coordinates and complements the curricula and training available in a secondary education setting with the curricula and training available at the community or private college or other postsecondary training program level. The council shall forward the proposed plan for a workstart program to the board of directors of the school district, or the authorities in charge of the nonpublic school, for review, modification, and approval.

3. Each workstart program shall consist of two phases, each of which shall be supervised by an appropriately licensed education practitioner: the preparation phase and the workplace phase.

a. The preparation phase of a workstart program is a school-based program that provides students with basic and advanced academic skills that will be necessary to perform in a vocational service area chosen by the student. The preparation phase shall also include instruction in skills that are necessary to succeed in high performance workplace employment. The preparation phase of a workstart program shall be directed by education practitioners possessing the appropriate licensing and endorsements for the vocational service area.

b. The workplace phase of a workstart program shall consist of an intensive workplace-specific training program that may be conducted at a worksite or both at a worksite and in the school setting. The workplace phase of a workstart program shall be coordinated by an education practitioner possessing the appropriate license and endorsements for the vocational service area, and may be directed at the worksite by persons employed in the occupational training area which has been selected by the student.

Both the preparation and workplace phases shall be articulated with United States department of labor-approved apprenticeship programs and other postsecondary educational and training offerings that permit participating students to obtain advanced training and education that may be necessary upon graduation from the workstart secondary education program or to obtain an advancement in an occupational field chosen by the student during the student's participation in a workstart secondary education program.

4. Each workstart program shall include a written agreement by the school or school district with one or more businesses from the surrounding community to provide workplace-specific training and learning programs which are related to the skills needed to succeed in those occupational areas. The proposed plan for implementation of the workstart program shall include a copy of the written agreement between the school or school district and the business or businesses and a business support component, which shall consist of financial or in-kind support, or both financial and in-kind support, from the businesses that have entered into the agreement with the school or school district. The plan may provide for the utilization of phase III and other available school funds in the establishment of the program. A workstart program is a comprehensive school transformation program under section 294A.14.

5. The state board of education shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to provide for the implementation of this section.

6. The department of education shall adopt guidelines for the establishment of workstart programs. Guidelines may include, but are not limited to, acceptable levels of business financial participation in a workstart program, maximum hour and workload guidelines for education practitioners working in or supervising a workstart program, and maximum and minimum class size guidelines for the preparation and workplace phases of a workstart program.

7. A school or local school district that implements a workstart program shall annually conduct a survey which counts the number of students who participate in, or graduate from, the program that are actually employed in an occupational area for which they received training. The school or school district shall disseminate the results of the surveys to the local employment and training councils for the school or school district and the department of education.

258.18 School-to-work transition system.

Repealed by 95 Acts, ch 196, §3. See § 256.38.

258.2 State board for vocational education.

The state board of education shall constitute the board for vocational education.

258.3 Personnel.

The director of the department of education shall appoint and direct the work of personnel as necessary to carry out this chapter.

258.3A Duties of board.

The board shall:

1. Cooperate with the federal board for vocational education in the administration of the Act of Congress.

2. Adopt rules prescribing standards for teachers of agricultural, industrial, and commercial subjects and home economics in approved schools, departments, and classes.

3. Adopt rules prescribing standards for approval of schools, departments, and classes; area vocational-technical high schools and programs; and community colleges with vocational programs; and practitioner preparation schools, departments, and classes, applying for federal and state moneys under this chapter.

258.4 Duties of director.

The director of the department of education shall:

1. Co-operate with the federal board for vocational education in the administration of the Act of Congress.

2. Provide for making studies and investigations relating to prevocational and vocational training in agricultural, industrial, and commercial subjects, and home economics.

3. Promote and aid in the establishment in local communities and public schools of departments and classes giving instruction in subjects listed in subsection 2.

4. Co-operate with local communities in the maintenance of schools, departments, and classes.

5. Make recommendations to the board of educational examiners relating to the enforcement of rules prescribing standards for teachers of subjects listed in subsection 2 in accredited schools, departments, and classes.

6. Co-operate in the maintenance of practitioner preparation schools, departments, and classes, supported and controlled by the public, for the training of teachers and supervisors of subjects listed in subsection 2.

7. Annually review at least twenty percent of the approved vocational programs as a basis for continuing approval to ensure that the programs are compatible with educational reform efforts, are capable of responding to technological change and innovation, and meet the educational needs of students and the employment community. The review shall include an assessment of the extent to which the competencies in the program are being mastered by the students enrolled, the costs are proportionate to educational benefits received, the vocational curriculum is articulated and integrated with other curricular offerings required of all students, the programs would permit students with vocational education backgrounds to pursue other educational interests in a postsecondary institutional setting, and the programs remove barriers for both traditional and nontraditional students to access educational and employment opportunities.

8. Establish a minimum set of competencies and core curriculum for approval of a vocational program sequence that addresses the following: new and emerging technologies; job-seeking, job-keeping, and other employment skills, including self-employment and entrepreneurial skills, that reflect current industry standards, leadership skills, entrepreneurial, and labor- market needs; and the strengthening of basic academic skills.

9. Establish a regional planning process to be implemented by regional planning boards, which utilizes the services of local school districts, community colleges, and other resources to assist local school districts in meeting vocational education standards while avoiding unnecessary duplication of services.

10. Enforce rules prescribing standards for approval of vocational education programs in schools, departments, and classes.

11. Notwithstanding the accreditation process contained in section 256.11, permit school districts, which provide a program which does not meet the standards for accreditation for vocational education, to cooperate with the regional planning boards and contract for an approved program under this chapter without losing accreditation. A school district which fails to cooperate with the regional planning boards and contract for an approved program shall, however, be subject to section 256.11.

12. Notwithstanding the accreditation standard and process contained in section 256.11 for vocational education for students in grades nine through twelve, provide a process that permits school districts to establish community-based workplace learning programs, called "workstart" programs, that provide students with competency- based learning experiences that reinforce basic academic skills and include, but are not limited to, new and emerging technologies; job-seeking, job-adaptability, and other employment; and self-employment and entrepreneurial skills that reflect current industry standards and labor-market needs. An approved workstart program may consist of two of the required sequential units in one of the six occupational service areas in grades nine through twelve, and shall be a priority for receipt of vocational education secondary funds.

258.5 Reimbursement from federal and state moneys.

If a school corporation maintains an approved vocational school, department, or classes in accordance with the rules adopted by the state board, and rules and standards adopted by the board of educational examiners, and the state plan for vocational education, adopted by the board for vocational education and approved by the United States department of education, the director of the department of education shall reimburse the school corporation at the end of the fiscal year for its expenditures for salaries and authorized travel of vocational teachers from federal and state funds. However, a school corporation shall not receive from federal and state funds a larger amount than one-half the sum which has been expended by the school corporation for that particular type of program. If federal and state funds are not sufficient to make the reimbursement to the extent provided in this section, the director shall prorate the respective amounts available to the corporations entitled to reimbursement.

The director may use federal funds to reimburse approved practitioner preparation schools, departments, or classes for the training of teachers of agriculture, home economics, trades and industrial education, distributive education, and for the training of guidance counselors.

258.6 Definitions.

"Approved school, department, or class" means a school, department, or class approved by the board as entitled under this chapter to federal and state moneys for the salaries and authorized travel of teachers of vocational subjects. "Approved practitioner preparation school, department, or class" means a school, department, or class approved by the board as entitled under this chapter to federal moneys for the training of teachers of vocational subjects.

258.7 Vocational education council.

A state council on vocational education is established, consisting of thirteen members, which shall be appointed by the governor. The term of a member is three years. The effective date of appointment shall comply with applicable federal law, or July 1 if federal law does not apply.

The council shall advise the state board and the director and shall perform other functions as necessary in order for the state of Iowa to qualify for federal aids and grants to vocational education.

Seven members of the council shall represent the private sector and six members shall equitably represent secondary and postsecondary vocational institutions. Appointments shall be in compliance with the requirements of federal law. The governor shall insure that there is as nearly as possible equitable representation of both sexes, appropriate representation of racial and ethnic minorities, and appropriate geographic representation.

The council shall meet at the call of the chairperson at least once each quarter of the year.

258.8 Administration.

The state council on vocational education shall be included in the department of education for administrative purposes.

258.9 Local advisory council.

The board of directors of a school district that maintains a school, department, or class receiving federal or state funds under this chapter shall, as a condition of approval by the state board, appoint a local advisory council for vocational education composed of public members with emphasis on persons representing business, agriculture, industry and labor. The local advisory council shall give advice and assistance to the board of directors in the establishment and maintenance of schools, departments, and classes that receive federal or state funds under this chapter. Local advisory councils may be organized according to program area, school, community, or region. The state board shall adopt rules requiring that the memberships of local advisory councils fairly represent each sex and minorities residing in the school district. Members of an advisory council shall serve without compensation.