COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
H. B. 2433
(By Delegates Mezzatesta, Perry,
Louisos, Williams and Paxton)
(Originating in the Committee on Education)
[February 12, 2003]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections three, fifteen, sixteen and
nineteen, article nine-d, chapter eighteen of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended;
and to amend and reenact section six, article ten-h of said
chapter, all relating to school facilities and related
programs for vocational-technical education; authorizing
school building authority to require flood insurance for any
facility within the one hundred year flood plain at which
authority funds are expended; authorizing authority to
encourage work-based learning opportunities for students on
funded projects; authorizing authority to accept any gift,
grant, contribution, bequest or endowment of equipment for
benefit of authority or its projects; requiring the authority
to reserve no more than twenty-five percent of funds available
for priority use for multi-use vocational-technical educational facilities which may include post-secondary
programs; authorizing use of reserved funds for equipment and
equipment updates; including administrative council or joint
administrative board as a bodies which may propose projects;
requiring ten-year major improvement plan as prior condition
for distribution of funds; prohibiting distribution of funds
to county not prepared to commence expenditure during fiscal
year; requiring up-to-date enrollment projections in
facilities plans and updates; authorizing inclusion of
facilities for community and technical college education in
plans to construct comprehensive vocational facilities at
existing high schools; providing exception from requirement
for comprehensive vocational facilities in counties served by
multicounty center or existing county center; establishing
planning process if such county elects to construct
comprehensive center; limiting effect on existing programs;
and including introductory vocational-technical courses in
middle school grades as part of effective schools for
vocational-technical education.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections three, fifteen, sixteen and nineteen, article
nine-d, chapter eighteen of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and
that section six, article ten-h of said chapter be amended and reenacted, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 9D. SCHOOL BUILDING AUTHORITY.
§18-9D-3. Powers of authority.
The school building authority has the power:
(1) To sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded;
(2) To have a seal and alter the same at pleasure;
(3) To contract to acquire and to acquire, in the name of the
authority by purchase, lease-purchase not to exceed a term of
twenty-five years, or otherwise, real property or rights or
easements necessary or convenient for its corporate purposes and to
exercise the power of eminent domain to accomplish those purposes;
(4) To acquire, hold and dispose of real and personal property
for its corporate purposes;
(5) To make bylaws for the management and rule of its affairs;
(6) To appoint, contract with and employ attorneys, bond
counsel, accountants, construction and financial experts,
underwriters, financial advisers, trustees, managers, officers and
such other employees and agents as may be necessary in the judgment
of the authority and to fix their compensation:
Provided, That
contracts entered into by the school building authority in
connection with the issuance of bonds under this article to provide
professional and technical services, including, without limitation,
accounting, actuarial, underwriting, consulting, trustee, bond
counsel, legal services and contracts relating to the purchase or sale of bonds are subject to the provisions of article three,
chapter five-a of this code:
Provided, however, That
notwithstanding any other provisions of this code, any authority of
the attorney general of this state relating to the review of
contracts and other documents to effectuate the issuance of bonds
under this article shall be exclusively limited to the form of the
contract and document:
Provided further, That the attorney general
of this state shall complete all reviews of contracts and documents
relating to the issuance of bonds under this article within ten
calendar days of receipt of the contract and document for review;
(7) To make contracts and to execute all instruments necessary
or convenient to effectuate the intent of and to exercise the
powers granted to it by this article;
(8) To renegotiate all contracts entered into by it whenever,
due to a change in situation, it appears to the authority that its
interests will be best served;
(9) To acquire by purchase, eminent domain or otherwise all
real property or interests in the property necessary or convenient
to accomplish the purposes of this article;
(10) To require proper maintenance and insurance of any
project authorized under this section,
including flood insurance
for any facility within the one hundred year flood plain at which
authority funds are expended;
(11) To charge rent for the use of all or any part of a project or buildings at any time financed, constructed, acquired or
improved, in whole or in part, with the revenues of the authority;
(12) To assist any county board of education that chooses to
acquire land, buildings and capital improvements to existing school
buildings and property for use as public school facilities, by
lease from a private or public lessor for a term not to exceed
twenty-five years with an option to purchase pursuant to an
investment contract with the lessor on such terms and conditions as
may be determined to be in the best interests of the authority, the
state board of education and the county board of education,
consistent with the purposes of this article, by transferring funds
to the state board of education as provided in subsection (d),
section fifteen of this article for the use of the county board of
education;
(13) To accept and expend any gift, grant, contribution,
bequest or endowment of money
and equipment to, or for the benefit
of, the authority
or any project under this article, from the state
of West Virginia or any other source for any or all of the purposes
specified in this article or for any one or more of such purposes
as may be specified in connection with the gift, grant,
contribution, bequest or endowment;
(14) To enter on any lands and premises for the purpose of
making surveys, soundings and examinations;
(15) To contract for architectural, engineering or other professional services considered necessary or economical by the
authority to provide consultative or other services to the
authority or to any regional educational service agency or county
board requesting professional services offered by the authority, to
evaluate any facilities plan or any project encompassed in the
plan, to inspect existing facilities or any project that has
received or may receive funding from the authority, or to perform
any other service considered by the authority to be necessary or
economical. Assistance to the region or district may include the
development of pre-approved systems, plans, designs, models or
documents; advice or oversight on any plan or project; or any other
service that may be efficiently provided to regional educational
service agencies or county boards by the authority;
(16) To provide funds on an emergency basis to repair or
replace property damaged by fire, flood, wind, storm, earthquake or
other natural occurrence, the funds to be made available in
accordance with guidelines of the school building authority;
(17) To transfer moneys to custodial accounts maintained by
the school building authority with a state financial institution
from the school construction fund and the school improvement fund
created in the state treasury pursuant to the provisions of section
six of this article, as necessary to the performance of any
contracts executed by the school building authority in accordance
with the provisions of this article;
(18) To enter into agreements with county boards and persons,
firms or corporations to facilitate the development of county board
projects and county board facilities plans. The county board
participating in an agreement shall pay at least twenty-five
percent of the cost of the agreement. Nothing in this section
shall be construed to supersede, limit or impair the authority of
county boards to develop and prepare their projects or plans;
and
(19) To encourage any project or part thereof to provide
opportunities for students to participate in supervised, unpaid
work-based learning experiences related to the student's program of
study approved by the county board. The work-based learning
experience must be conducted in accordance with a formal training
plan approved by the instructor, the employer, and the student and
which sets forth at a minimum the specific skills to be learned,
the required documentation of work-based learning experiences, the
conditions of the placement, including duration and safety
provisions, and provisions for supervision and liability insurance
coverage as applicable. Projects involving the new construction
and renovation of vocational-technical and adult education
facilities should provide opportunities for students to participate
in supervised work-based learning experiences, to the extent
practical, which meet the requirements of this subdivision.
Nothing in this subdivision may be construed to affect registered
youth apprenticeship programs or the provisions governing those programs; and
(19) (20) To do all things necessary or convenient to carry
out the powers given in this article.
§18-9D-15. Legislative intent; distribution of money.
(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to empower the school
building authority to facilitate and provide state funds and to
administer all federal funds provided for the construction and
major improvement of school facilities so as to meet the
educational needs of the people of this state in an efficient and
economical manner. The authority shall make funding determinations
in accordance with the provisions of this article and shall assess
existing school facilities and each facility's school major
improvement plan in relation to the needs of the individual
student, the general school population, the communities served by
the facilities and facility needs statewide.
(b) An amount that is no more than three percent of the sum of
moneys that are determined by the authority to be available for
distribution during the then current fiscal year from: (1) Moneys
paid into the school building capital improvements fund pursuant to
section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2) the issuance of
revenue bonds for which moneys in the school building debt service
fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid into the school
construction fund pursuant to section six of this article; and (4)
any other moneys received by the authority, except moneys paid into the school major improvement fund pursuant to section six of this
article, may be allocated and may be expended by the authority for
projects that service the educational community statewide or, upon
application by the state board, for educational programs that are
under the jurisdiction of the state board. In addition, upon
application by the state board or the administrative council of an
area vocational educational center established pursuant to article
two-b of this chapter, the authority may allocate and expend under
this
section subsection moneys for school major improvement
projects proposed by the state board or an administrative council
for school facilities under the direct supervision of the state
board or an administrative council, respectively:
Provided, That
the authority may not expend any moneys for a school major
improvement project proposed by the state board or the
administrative council of an area vocational educational center
unless the state board or an administrative council has submitted
a ten-year school major improvement plan, to be updated annually,
pursuant to section sixteen of this article:
Provided, however,
That the authority shall, before allocating any moneys to the state
board or the administrative council of an area vocational
educational center for a school improvement project, consider all
other funding sources available for the project.
(c) An amount that is no more than two percent of the moneys
that are determined by the authority to be available for distribution during the current fiscal year from: (1) Moneys paid
into the school building capital improvements fund pursuant to
section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2) the issuance of
revenue bonds for which moneys in the school building debt service
fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid into the school
construction fund pursuant to section six of this article; and (4)
any other moneys received by the authority, except moneys deposited
into the school major improvement fund, shall be set aside by the
authority as an emergency fund to be distributed in accordance with
the guidelines adopted by the authority.
(d) An amount that is no more than twenty-five percent of the
moneys that are determined by the authority to be available for
distribution during the current fiscal year from: (1) Moneys paid
into the school building capital improvements fund pursuant to
section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2) the issuance of
revenue bonds for which moneys in the school building debt service
fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid into the school
construction fund pursuant to section six of this article; and (4)
any other moneys received by the authority, except moneys deposited
into the school major improvement fund, shall be reserved by the
authority for multi-use vocational-technical education facilities
that may include post-secondary programs as a first priority use.
The authority may allocate and expend under this subsection moneys
for any purposes authorized in this article on multi-use vocational-technical education facilities and for equipment and
equipment updates at the facilities. If the projects approved
under this subsection do not require the full amount of moneys
reserved, moneys above the amount required may be allocated and
expended in accordance with other provisions of this article. A
county board, the state board, an administrative council or the
joint administrative board of a vocational-technical education
facility which includes post-secondary programs may propose
projects for facilities or equipment, or both, which are under the
direct supervision of the respective body: Provided, That the
authority shall, before allocating any moneys for a project under
this subsection, consider all other funding sources available for
the project.
(d) (e) The remaining moneys determined by the authority to be
available for distribution during the then current fiscal year
from: (1) Moneys paid into the school building capital improvements
fund pursuant to section ten, article nine-a of this chapter; (2)
the issuance of revenue bonds for which moneys in the school
building debt service fund are pledged as security; (3) moneys paid
into the school construction fund pursuant to section six of this
article; and (4) any other moneys received by the authority, except
moneys deposited into the school major improvement fund, shall be
allocated and expended on the basis of need and efficient use of
resources, the basis to be determined by the authority in accordance with the provisions of section sixteen of this article.
(e) (f) If a county board of education proposes to finance a
project that is approved pursuant to section sixteen of this
article through a lease with an option to purchase leased premises
upon the expiration of the total lease period pursuant to an
investment contract, the authority may allocate no moneys to the
county board in connection with the project:
Provided, That the
authority may transfer moneys to the state board of education
which, with the authority, shall lend the amount transferred to the
county board to be used only for a one-time payment due at the
beginning of the lease term, made for the purpose of reducing
annual lease payments under the investment contract, subject to the
following conditions:
(1) The loan shall be secured in the manner required by the
authority, in consultation with the state board, and shall be
repaid in a period and bear interest at a rate as determined by the
state board and the authority and shall have such terms and
conditions as are required by the authority, all of which shall be
set forth in a loan agreement among the authority, the state board
and the county board;
(2) The loan agreement shall provide for the state board and
the authority to defer the payment of principal and interest upon
any loan made to the county board during the term of the investment
contract, and annual renewals of the investment contract, among the state board, the authority, the county board and a lessor:
Provided, That in the event a county board which has received a
loan from the authority for a one-time payment at the beginning of
the lease term does not renew the subject lease annually until
performance of the investment contract in its entirety is
completed, the county board is in default and the principal of the
loan, together with all unpaid interest accrued to the date of the
default, shall, at the option of the authority, in consultation
with the state board, become due and payable immediately or subject
to renegotiation among the state board, the authority and the
county board:
Provided, however, That if a county board renews the
lease annually through the performance of the investment contract
in its entirety, the county board shall exercise its option to
purchase the leased premises:
Provided further, That the failure
of the county board to make a scheduled payment pursuant to the
investment contract constitutes an event of default under the loan
agreement:
And provided further, That upon a default by a county
board, the principal of the loan, together with all unpaid interest
accrued to the date of the default, shall, at the option of the
authority, in consultation with the state board, become due and
payable immediately or subject to renegotiation among the state
board, the authority and the county board:
And provided further,
That if the loan becomes due and payable immediately, the
authority, in consultation with the state board, shall use all means available under the loan agreement and law to collect the
outstanding principal balance of the loan, together with all unpaid
interest accrued to the date of payment of the outstanding
principal balance; and
(3) The loan agreement shall provide for the state board and
the authority to forgive all principal and interest of the loan
upon the county board purchasing the leased premises pursuant to
the investment contract and performance of the investment contract
in its entirety.
(f) (g) To encourage county boards to proceed promptly with
facilities planning and to prepare for the expenditure of any state
moneys derived from the sources described in this subsection, any
county board failing to expend money within three years of the
allocation to the county board shall forfeit the allocation and
thereafter is ineligible for further allocations pursuant to this
subsection until the county board is ready to expend funds in
accordance with an approved facilities plan:
Provided, That the
authority may authorize an extension beyond the three-year
forfeiture period not to exceed an additional two years. Any
amount forfeited shall be added to the total funds available in the
school construction fund of the authority for future allocation and
distribution.
(g) (h) The remaining moneys that are determined by the
authority to be available for distribution during the then current fiscal year from moneys paid into the school major improvement fund
pursuant to section six of this article shall be allocated and
distributed on the basis of need and efficient use of resources,
the basis to be determined by the authority in accordance with the
provisions of section sixteen of this article:
Provided, That the
moneys may not be distributed to any county board that does not
have an approved school major improvement plan or to any county
board that is not prepared to commence expenditures of the funds
during the fiscal year in which the moneys are distributed:
Provided, however, That any moneys allocated to a county board and
not distributed to that county board shall be deposited in an
account to the credit of that county board, the principal amount to
remain to the credit of and available to the county board for a
period of two years. Any moneys which are unexpended after a
two-year period shall be redistributed on the basis of need from
the school major improvement fund in that fiscal year.
(h) (i) No local matching funds may be required under the
provisions of this section. However, the responsibilities of the
county boards of education to maintain school facilities are not
negated by the provisions of this article. To be eligible to
receive an allocation of school major improvement funds from the
authority, a county board must have expended in the previous fiscal
year an amount of county moneys equal to or exceeding the lowest
average amount of money included in the county board's maintenance budget over any three of the previous five years and must have
budgeted an amount equal to or greater than the average in the
current fiscal year:
Provided, That the state board of education
shall promulgate rules relating to county boards' maintenance
budgets, including items which shall be included in the budgets.
(i) (j) Any county board may use moneys provided by the
authority under this article in conjunction with local funds
derived from bonding, special levy or other sources. Distribution
to a county board, or to the state board or the administrative
council of an area vocational educational center pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section, may be in a lump sum or in
accordance with a schedule of payments adopted by the authority
pursuant to guidelines adopted by the authority.
(j) (k) Funds in the school construction fund shall first be
transferred and expended as follows:
Any funds deposited in the school construction fund shall be
expended first in accordance with an appropriation by the
Legislature. To the extent that funds are available in the school
construction fund in excess of that amount appropriated in any
fiscal year, the excess funds may be expended in accordance with
the provisions of this article. Any projects which the authority
identified and announced for funding on or before the first day of
August, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, or identified and
announced for funding on or before the thirty-first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety-five, shall be funded by
the authority in an amount which is not less than the amount
specified when the project was identified and announced.
(k) (l) It is the intent of the Legislature to encourage
county boards to explore and consider arrangements with other
counties that may facilitate the highest and best use of all
available funds, which may result in improved transportation
arrangements for students, or which otherwise may create
efficiencies for county boards and the students. In order to
address the intent of the Legislature contained in this subsection,
the authority shall grant preference to those projects which
involve multicounty arrangements as the authority shall determine
reasonable and proper.
(l) (m) County boards shall submit all designs for
construction of new school buildings to the school building
authority for review and approval prior to preparation of final bid
documents:
Provided, That a vendor who has been debarred pursuant
to the provisions of sections thirty-three-a through thirty-three-
f, inclusive, article three, chapter five-a of this code, may not
bid on or be awarded a contract under this section.
(m) (n) The authority may elect to disburse funds for approved
construction projects over a period of more than one year subject
to the following:
(1) The authority may not approve the funding of a project for more than three years; and
(2) The authority may not approve the use of more than fifty
percent of the revenue for projects to be funded over more than one
year.
§18-9D-16. Facilities and major improvement plans generally;
need-based eligibility.
(a) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of
this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful expenditure
of state funds for construction projects as described in subsection
(d) of said section, each county board of education shall submit a
county-wide comprehensive educational facilities plan that
addresses the facilities and major improvement needs of the county
and includes up-to-date projections of student enrollments pursuant
to such guidelines as shall be adopted by the authority in
accordance with this section and in accordance with each county's
facilities plan approved by the state board of education. Any
project receiving funding
shall must be in furtherance of
such the
approved county-wide facilities plan.
(1) To assure efficiency and productivity in the project
approval process, the county-wide facilities plan
shall may be
submitted only after a preliminary plan, a plan outline or a
proposal for a plan has been submitted to the authority. Selected
members of the authority, which selection shall include citizen
members, shall then meet promptly with those persons designated by the county board to attend the facilities plan consultation. The
purpose of the consultation is to assure understanding of the
general goals of the school building authority and the specific
goals encompassed in the following criteria and to discuss ways the
plan may be structured to meet those goals.
(2) The guidelines for the development of a facilities plan
shall must state the manner, timeline and process for submission of
any plan to the authority;
such project specifications
as may be
deemed considered appropriate by the authority; and those matters
which are
deemed considered by the authority to be important
reflections of how the project will further the overall goals of
the authority.
(b) To facilitate the goals as stated in section fifteen of
this article and to assure the prudent and resourceful expenditure
of state funds derived from the school major improvement fund, each
county board of education shall submit to the authority a ten-year
county-wide school major improvement plan that addresses the major
improvement needs of each school within the county.
Funds may not
be distributed to any county board that does not have a
comprehensive educational facility plan approved by the state board
and the school building authority or to any county board that is
not prepared to commence expenditure of the funds during the fiscal
year in which the moneys are distributed. If the state board of
education or the administrative council of an area vocational educational center chooses to seek funding for a major improvement
project from the authority pursuant to subsection (f) of said
section, the state board or
such the administrative council shall
submit a ten-year school major improvement plan that addresses the
major improvement needs of the school or area vocational
educational center for which funding is sought. Each ten-year
school major improvement plan
shall must be prepared pursuant to
such guidelines
as shall be adopted by the authority in accordance
with this section and
shall must be updated annually to reflect
projects completed,
current enrollment projections and new or
continuing needs. Any school major improvement project funded by
the authority
shall must be in furtherance of
such the approved
school major improvement plan.
The guidelines for the development and annual updates of a
ten-year school major improvement plan
shall must state the manner,
timeline and process for submission of any plan, including a repair
and replacement schedule for school facilities, to the authority;
such the maintenance specifications
as may be deemed considered
appropriate by the authority; and those matters which are
deemed
considered by the authority to be important reflections of how the
major improvement project or projects will further the overall
goals of the authority.
(c) The guidelines regarding submission of the facilities
plans and school major improvement plans
shall must include requirements for public hearings, comments or other means of
providing broad-based input within a reasonable time period as the
authority may
deem consider appropriate. The submission of each
plan
shall must be accompanied by a synopsis of all comments
received and a formal comment by the county board, the state board
or the administrative council of an area vocational educational
center submitting
such the plan.
The guidelines regarding project specifications may include
such matters as energy efficiency, preferred siting, construction
materials, maintenance plan or any other matter related to how the
project is to proceed. If a county board of education proposes to
finance a construction project through a lease with an option to
purchase pursuant to an investment contract as described in
subsection (e), section fifteen of this article, the
specifications for
such the project
shall must include the term of
the lease, the amount of each lease payment, including the payment
due upon exercise of the option to purchase, and the terms and
conditions of the proposed investment contract.
(d) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities
shall must require that a facilities plan address how
the current facilities do not meet and how the proposed plan and
any project thereunder does meet the following goals:
(1) Student health and safety;
(2) Economies of scale, including compatibility with similar schools that have achieved the most economical organization,
facility utilization and pupil-teacher ratios;
(3) Reasonable travel time and practical means of addressing
other demographic considerations;
(4) Multicounty and regional planning to achieve the most
effective and efficient instructional delivery system;
(5) Curriculum improvement and diversification, including
computerization and technology and advanced senior courses in
science, mathematics, language arts and social studies;
(6) Innovations in education;
(7) Adequate space for projected student enrollments; and
(8) To the extent constitutionally permissible, each
facilities plan
shall must address the history of efforts taken by
the county board to propose or adopt local school bond issues or
special levies.
If the project is to benefit more than one county in the
region, the facilities plan
shall must state the manner in which
the cost and funding of the project
shall will be apportioned among
the counties.
(e) The guidelines pertaining to quality educational
facilities
shall must require that a school major improvement plan
address how the proposed plan and any project thereunder meet the
following goals:
(1) Student health and safety, including, but not limited to, critical health and safety needs; and
(2) Economies of scale, including regularly scheduled
preventive maintenance:
Provided, That each county board's school
maintenance plan
shall must address regularly scheduled maintenance
for all facilities within the county.
(f) Each county board's facilities plan and school major
improvement plan
shall must prioritize all the construction
projects or major improvement projects, respectively, within the
county. A school major improvement plan submitted by the state
board or the administrative council of an area vocational
educational center
shall must prioritize all the school improvement
projects contained in
such the plan.
Such The priority list
shall
be is one of the criteria to be considered by the authority in
determining how available funds
shall must be expended. In
prioritizing the projects, the county board, the state board or the
administrative council submitting a plan shall make determinations
in accordance with the objective criteria formulated by the school
building authority.
(g) Each facilities plan and school major improvement plan
shall must include the objective means to be
utilized used in
evaluating implementation of the overall plan and each project
included therein.
Such The evaluation
shall must measure each
project's furtherance of each applicable goal stated in this
section and any guidelines adopted hereunder, as well as the overall success of any project as it relates to the facilities plan
or school major improvement plan and the overall goals of the
authority.
(h) The state department of education shall conduct on-site
inspections, at least annually, of all facilities which have been
funded wholly or in part by moneys from the authority or state
board to ensure compliance with the county board's facilities plan
and school major improvement plan as related to
such the
facilities; to preserve the physical integrity of the facilities to
the extent possible; and to otherwise extend the useful life of the
facilities:
Provided, That the state board shall submit reports
regarding its on-site inspections of facilities to the authority
within thirty days of completion of
such the on-site inspections:
Provided, however, That the state board shall promulgate rules
regarding
such the on-site inspections and matters relating
thereto, in consultation with the authority, as soon as practical
and shall submit
such proposed rules for legislative review no
later than the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred
ninety-four.
(i) The authority may adopt guidelines for requiring that a
county board modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit changes
or additions to an approved facilities plan or for requiring that
a county board, the state board or the administrative council of an
area vocational educational center modify, update, supplement or otherwise submit changes or additions to an approved county board
facilities plan or school major improvement plan. The authority
shall provide reasonable notification and sufficient time for
such
the change or addition as delineated in guidelines developed by the
authority.
(j) Based on its on-site inspection or notification by the
authority to the state board that the changes or additions to a
county's board facilities plan or school major improvement plan
required by the authority have not been implemented within the time
period prescribed by the authority, the state board shall restrict
the use of the necessary funds or otherwise allocate funds from
moneys appropriated by the Legislature for those purposes set forth
in section nine, article nine-a of this chapter.
§18-9D-19. Comprehensive high schools.
(a) The Legislature finds the following:
(1) The decline in student enrollment over the last twenty
years has necessitated consolidation of schools in many counties;
(2) It is projected that the decline in student enrollment
during the period two thousand two through two thousand twelve may
be as great as eighteen percent and will continue the necessity to
consolidate schools;
(3) The new consolidated school buildings now being built
across the state provide an opportunity for communities to have
comprehensive high schools that include space for vocational-technical courses, community college courses and other
workforce related courses for the students and the public at large;
(4) Requiring students to be bused to remote vocational
centers has sometimes deterred student participation in vocational
courses and has sometimes been considered a stigma upon those
students attending vocational courses;
(5) Offering vocational, community college and workforce
programs in close proximity to each other compliment the high
school and the programs; and
(6) The change in the season for girls' basketball to coincide
with boys' basketball has placed significant pressures on the
availability of gymnasium space and often has caused practices to
be scheduled late in the evenings and on weekends, interfering with
time needed for studying and rest.
(b) When planning the construction of a high school which has
been approved by the authority and which meets the required
authority efficiencies, the authority shall provide funding for
comprehensive vocational facilities to be located, when feasible,
on the same site as the high school and may, in cooperation with
the higher education policy commission, established in section one,
article one-b, chapter eighteen-b, provide funding for facilities
for community and technical college education. When building in
conjunction with the higher education policy commission, an
educational specification
shall must be developed for the proposed new facility by the appropriate institutional governing board as
defined in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this
code. The county board is the fiscal agent for construction. All
planning, design, bidding and construction
shall must be completed
with authority guidelines and under the supervision of the
authority.
(c) When planning the construction of a high school which has
been approved by the authority and meets the required authority
efficiencies, the authority shall provide funding sufficient for
the construction of at least one auxiliary gymnasium. The
authority may establish standards for the auxiliary gymnasium.
(d) Upon application of a county board to construct
comprehensive vocational facilities at an existing high school, the
authority will provide technical assistance to the county in
developing a plan for construction of the comprehensive vocational
facility.
The facility may, in cooperation with the higher
education policy commission in accordance with the provisions of
subsection (b) of this section, include facilities for community
and technical college education. Upon development of the plan, the
authority shall consider funding based on the following criteria:
(1) The distance of any existing vocational facilities from
the high schools it serves;
(2) The time required to travel to and from the vocational
facility to the high schools it serves;
(3) The ability of the county board to provide local funds for
the construction of new comprehensive vocational facilities;
(4) The size of the existing high schools and the demand for
vocational technical courses;
(5) The age and physical condition of the existing vocational
facilities; and
(6) Such other criteria as the authority shall consider
appropriate.
(e) When planning the construction of a high school in a
county which is served by a multicounty vocational technical
facility, the county may not be required to include the
construction of a comprehensive vocational facility in the plan.
If the county board elects to construct a comprehensive vocational
facility pursuant to this section, the board shall include the
multicounty center director and board in planning programs to be
offered at the vocational facility which complement the programs
offered at the multicounty center and may as part of the plan
include facilities for community and technical college education at
the multicounty center. The programs offered at the vocational
facility may not replace the programs offered at the multicounty
vocational technical center without the consent of the center
board.
(f) Notwithstanding other provisions of this section to the
contrary, the board of a county in which there is an existing county comprehensive vocational center may not be required to plan
construction of a comprehensive vocational facility when planning
the construction of a new high school. If the county elects to do
so, the plan must consider programs which complement the programs
of the county center and may include facilities for community and
technical college education in accordance with this section.
ARTICLE 10H. ALBERT YANNI PROGRAMS OF EXCELLENCE IN VOCATIONAL-
TECHNICAL EDUCATION.
§18-10H-6. Effective schools program in vocational-technical
education.
The state board of education shall establish and operate an
effective schools program for vocational-technical education,
including introductory vocational-technical courses in middle
school grades as appropriate. The purpose of the program is to
provide vocational-technical education personnel with resources and
staff development for school program improvement based on
application of the effective schools research, including components
such as instructional leadership, school climate, high student
expectations, emphasis on academic and occupational achievement,
and community and parental involvement. The program shall be
coordinated by the bureau of vocational, technical and adult
education with the advisement from a committee composed of two
vocational administrators, two vocational teachers, one vocational guidance counselor, one educator of vocational teachers, one county
school superintendent, one comprehensive high school principal, one
academic teacher, two business/industry representatives, one labor
representative, and one vocational education program completer.
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