Committee reviews CTE out-of-region enrollment, transportation and directory-information sharing

Senator Ruth Hardy presented an amendment to H.480 that would gather and clarify law and rules governing secondary students who enroll in Career and Technical Education (CTE) centers outside their home service region. The draft pulls existing statutory and regulatory language into one section and adds guidance on tuition, optional transportation, and the sharing of directory information for recruitment and wait-list purposes.

Why it matters: Hardy and counsel said the intent is to reduce confusion about what districts and CTE centers may do now under current law. The sponsor said the amendment "is either allowable under current law or is currently in current law in various different places that may be hard to grasp altogether," and that consolidating the rules could improve clarity for students and districts.

The amendment's components as explained on the record: definitions for "receiving district" and "sending district"; a provision that the sending district shall pay tuition pursuant to an agreement when a student enrolls out of region; a note that a regional CTE center may provide transportation for out-of-region students beginning in the 2025-26 school year (the draft uses "may"); and a statement that any changes in tuition because of new enrollments would be reconciled through the State Board of Education's tuition reconciliation process.

Office of Legislative Counsel read existing statute language aloud to the committee, including the requirement that "a school district that maintains a secondary school shall provide the names and addresses of enrolled students to the CTE Center for each region for the limited purpose of the CTE center providing information to students and their parents about CTE offerings." Counsel also read the U.S. Department of Education description of directory information: "Directory information is information contained in the education records of a student... typically, directory information includes information such as name, address, telephone listing, date and place of birth, participation in officially recognized activities and sports, and dates of attendance." Counsel noted that FERPA permits disclosure of designated directory information provided parents and eligible students have been given notice and an opportunity to opt out.

Committee members debated the transportation languagewhether it should remain permissive ("may") or be prescriptive ("shall") if certain conditions (for example, cost-effectiveness) are met. Hardy said the amendment does not force CTE centers to change tuition-setting rules; instead, it points to the State Board's existing reconciliation process if accepting large numbers of out-of-region students changes cost-per-student math.

Members also discussed the practical burden on smaller sending districts to track student interest and wait lists and whether consolidating statutory language would actually change local practice. Several members referenced testimony from Jody McTavish (a CTE representative who had raised concerns) and said McTavish planned to address communication practices that generated confusion.

The committee took a straw poll on whether to report the amendment favorably. The chair concluded that a majority of the committee did not indicate support for a favorable report in this session; members said they wanted further clarification and work rather than immediate statutory change. Hardy and others said they would continue conversations and work with AOE and CTE centers on communications and implementation details.

Hardy told the committee she supported the amendment because it consolidates guidance and could make explicit practices already allowable under law: "If we condense it and make sure people have visibility on it and know it is the path, I think that helps students get the CTE education they want."

The committee did not adopt the amendment during this meeting; Hardy indicated she would accept further drafting and coordination with AOE and CTE stakeholders before the bill moves to the floor.