Board hears Carl Perkins CTE plan; state changes to ‘3E’ framework and work-based learning raise implementation questions

Charlottesville City Schools officials presented the Carl Perkins local plan for the 2025–26 school year and described how recent state changes to the employment ("3E") framework may affect local Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs.

"This evening, I am here to present to you the Carl Perkins local plan for the 2025–26 school year, which is a federal grant used to help fund our career and technical education programs," Doctor Heltz told the board. The presentation reviewed local CTE enrollment, credentialing and proposed Perkins allocations for equipment, staffing and student career-exposure activities.

Why it matters: Perkins funds are federal resources that support CTE equipment, industry-standard facilities and teacher professional development. Local officials said those funds are constrained by the state's approved equipment lists and that recent state-level changes to the 3E employment framework — including a new, narrower definition of high-quality work-based learning — will affect whether common student experiences count toward the employment framework's point values for accreditation.

State framework changes: staff summarized that in December the Virginia State Board of Education approved revisions to the employment framework that increase the maximum points available for the employment strand (including work-based learning and industry credentials) but also narrowed qualifying work-based learning experiences to four categories (registered apprenticeships, internships, clinical experiences, and school-based enterprises/entrepreneurship) and required a 90-hour minimum at a qualifying work site in many cases. Staff warned that the new rules also require work-based learning be aligned with a CTE course, which could exclude valuable experiences that are not CTE-aligned (for example, university programs in medicine that previously counted).

Local data and Perkins priorities: Doctor Heltz reported 131 CTE completers in the 2024 cohort, 336 industry credentials earned in 2023–24 and 133 workplace readiness credentials awarded in the 2023–24 school year; the division currently offers CTE programs across nine of the state’s 14 career clusters. Using last year’s allocations as a baseline, staff proposed prioritized Perkins spending of about $60,000 on equipment updates, $20,000 on staff professional development and $10,000 on student career-exploration activities; staff noted allocations will be finalized after state allocations are announced in late spring.

Board questions and implications: board members and staff discussed whether the new work-based learning rules will make it harder to secure employer partners and paid internships, and whether exceptions exist for required clinical experiences (hospital clinicals and state board of nursing requirements were discussed as one exception). Staff said they expected continuing state guidance about which industry credentials will qualify for the employment framework and that region-level work with other divisions and employers would be important.

Ending: staff asked for the board’s approval to submit the Perkins local plan and to continue vendor and business outreach to align work-based learning opportunities with new state criteria; the board had an opportunity to ask clarifying questions and requested continued reporting as the state releases lists and guidance.