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Sen. Waters pitches bill to expand student access to regional career and technical education programs
Summary
Senator David Waters introduced SB 99 to require regional CTE agreements to treat sending‑school students equally, allow part‑time or full‑time attendance at receiving schools, clarify tuition/transportation payment formulas and explicitly include homeschool and nonpublic students. The committee held the hearing; no vote was recorded.
Senator David Waters, district 4, told the Senate Education Committee on Oct. 12 that Senate Bill 99 would change regional career and technical education (CTE) agreements so students from sending schools have equal access to programs at receiving schools and more flexible scheduling options.
The bill directs schools that participate in regional CTE agreements to negotiate admission and scheduling so sending‑school students are admitted on an equal basis and can take embedded academic credits at the receiving school. "Sending school students are not second class students," Waters said, arguing the measure would reduce scheduling conflicts that had forced students to miss classes or leave early to return to their home schools.
Waters said the bill creates a formula by which a student may attend a receiving CTE school part time (up to three courses) or make the receiving school their full‑time school and complete required academic coursework there. He said the bill relies on existing tuition and transportation funding mechanisms and asks districts to determine seat allocations, course availability and scheduling through their agreements.
Waters also told the committee he worked with the Department of Education on the bill and that it explicitly extends access to homeschoolers and students who attend nonpublic schools, allowing them to attend the nearest CTE program when transportation or sending‑district arrangements make other options impractical.
The sponsor described the legislation as aimed at removing a bottleneck that has limited some students' ability to complete CTE sequences while meeting their home‑school requirements. He thanked department staff for technical assistance and closed the hearing after committee members had no immediate questions.
No formal motion or committee vote on SB 99 was recorded in the hearing transcript.
