§18-2B-2 State board of vocational education; authority to establish programs, etc., until July 1, 1990; Joint Commission for Vocational-Technical-Occupational Education; state board of education and - West Virginia Statutes

§18-2B-2. State board of vocational education; authority to establish programs, etc., until July 1, 1990; Joint Commission for Vocational-Technical-Occupational Education; state board of education and board of directors; authority to establish programs, etc.; division of vocational education established; rules and regulations; director.

(a) For the purpose of this article, the state board of education is designated as the state board of vocational education serving and meeting as the sole agency responsible for the administration of vocational education and for supervision of the administration thereof by local educational agencies and is hereby authorized and empowered to establish, operate and maintain area vocational educational programs including the acquisition by purchase, lease, gift or otherwise of necessary lands and the construction, expansion, remodeling, alteration and equipping of necessary buildings for the purpose of operating and conducting educational training centers. The state board of vocational education may delegate for such period of time as it may determine its operational authority for multi-county vocational centers to an administrative council composed of equal representation from each of the participating county boards of education, the superintendent of schools from each participating county, and the state director of vocational education or his representative. To this end, there is hereby expressly established in the state board of education a division of vocational education which shall establish the area or areas in which the programs are to be conducted and shall have authority to promulgate, pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. The administration and supervision of the area vocational educational programs shall be administered by the director of the division of vocational education.

(b) Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, the West Virginia joint commission for Vocational-Technical-Occupational Education, hereinafter referred to as "Joint Commission," established pursuant to the provisions of article three-a, chapter eighteen-b of this code, is designated as the sole agency responsible for the administration of vocational-technical-occupational education in the state. The joint commission is designated thereafter to receive federal money for vocational-technical-occupational education in the state as of the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety. Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, the joint commission shall determine which adult occupational education programs and which adult technical preparatory educational programs as defined in section one-b, article three-a, chapter eighteen-b of this code, shall be under the jurisdiction of the state board of education and which said programs shall be under the jurisdiction of the board of directors. Effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine, any proposed new program by the state board of education or the board of directors in the areas of adult occupational education or adult technical preparatory education as defined in section one-b, article three-a, chapter eighteen-b of this code shall be filed with the joint commission with notice of intent to plan, which such new program shall require approval by the joint commission prior to institution of such new program. The secondary and post-secondary vocational education programs of the state existing as of the effective date of this article shall remain in place until the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, during which time the joint commission shall conduct a study of secondary and post-secondary vocational education in the state including definitions of same, and shall make recommendations to the Legislature respecting secondary and post-secondary vocational education in the state, including recommendations as to the definitions of same, on or before the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety. As of the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, the joint commission is authorized to implement policies to superviseand coordinate the secondary and post-secondary vocational education programs in the state. The joint commission is hereby empowered as of the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety, to determine the standards for the certification and awards of vocational programs in the state or to delegate said authority, based on the joint commission's aforesaid study of the secondary and post-secondary vocational education in the state. The state board of education shall be responsible for the administration of secondary vocational education programs, as determined by the joint commission, and for supervision of the administration thereof by local educational agencies and is hereby authorized and empowered to establish, operate and maintain area vocational educational programs including the acquisition by purchase, lease, gift or otherwise of necessary lands and the construction, expansion, remodeling, alteration and equipping of necessary buildings for the purpose of operating and conducting secondary educational training centers. The state board of education may delegate for such period of time as it may determine its operational authority for multi-county vocational centers to an administrative council composed of equal representation from each of the participating county boards of education, the superintendent of schools from each participating county, and the state director of vocational education or his representative. To this end, there is hereby expressly established in the state board of education a division of secondary vocational education which shall establish the area or areas in which the programs are to be conducted and shall have authority to promulgate, pursuant to the provisions of chapter twenty-nine-a of this code, rules and regulations necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. The administration and supervision of the area vocational educational programs shall be administered by the director of the division of vocational education. The state board of vocational education, previously established under this article, is abolished effective the first day of July, one thousand nine hundred ninety.

The board of directors shall be responsible for the administration of all post-secondary vocational education in the state, as determined by the joint commission, which shall be administered as a part of the state college system as defined in section two, article one, chapter eighteen-b of this code. In the development of the post-secondary education portion of any and all state plans or amendments thereto as may be required for participation in the Vocational Education Act of 1963, as amended, or as may be required for state participation in any federally funded post-secondary vocational-technical or occupational education programs, the board of directors shall solicit recommendations from the state board of education and the director of the division of vocational education for the post-secondary education provisions to be included in all such plans.

The joint commission shall, in any and all plans submitted for federal vocational education funds in support of vocational-technical or occupational education, provide that:

(a) The secondary vocational-technical-occupational education programs administered by the state board of education shall be eligible to receive vocational-technical-occupational education funds in accordance with federal guidelines;

(b) The comprehensive community college education service regions as established by the board of directors shall be eligible to receive post-secondary vocational-technical- occupational funds in accordance with federal guidelines;

(c) Services, programs, equipment and facilities may be contracted between comprehensive community colleges, area vocational technical schools and county boards of education as a means of preventing unnecessary duplication;

(d) Federal funds provided to the state in support of vocational-technical-occupational education shall be allocated to the state board of education and to the board of directors for use in the state system of comprehensive vocational-technical-occupational education in an amount in direct proportion as the respective vocational-technical- occupational enrollments of each program is to the total vocational-technical-occupational enrollment of the state.

(e) There shall be established an implementation team to review the work of the joint commission for vocational-technical-occupational education and to file a report with the governor and the Legislature by the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred ninety, and shall also file a report with the legislative oversight commission on education accountability no later than the first day of December, one thousand nine hundred eighty-nine. The implementation team shall be composed of one representative of the state department of education, one representative of the community colleges, three members of the senate education committee and three members of the house education committee, all to be appointed by the governor. The secretary of education and the arts shall be responsible for staffing the implementation team utilizing existing personnel, equipment and offices of the board of directors of the state college system and the state board of education.