HB980: Career coaches; Board for Community Colleges to establish guidelines for in public high schools.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. That §§ 22.1-209, 23-214, and 23-218 of the Code of Virginia are amended and reenacted as follows:
§ 22.1-209. Employment counseling and placement services.
A. Each school board shall make available to secondary students employment counseling and placement services to furnish information relating to the employment opportunities available to students graduating from or leaving the public schools in the school division. Such information shall include all types of employment opportunities, including, but not limited to, apprenticeships, the military, career education schools, and the teaching profession.
B. No fee, compensation or other consideration shall be charged to or received from any student utilizing such services.
C. In providing such services, the school board shall consult and cooperate with the Virginia Employment Commission, the Department of Labor and Industry, the State Board for Community Colleges and the guidelines regarding career coach placement developed pursuant to § 23-214, local business and labor organizations, and such career schools as may be approved by the Board.
D. The Board of Education may recommend methods for providing such services. The State Department of Education may provide assistance to school divisions in establishing and providing such services upon request.
§ 23-214. Definitions.
As used in this chapter:
(a) "Comprehensive community college" means an institution of higher education which offers instruction in one or more of the following fields:
(1) Freshman and sophomore courses in arts and sciences acceptable for transfer in baccalaureate degree programs;
(2) Diversified technical curricula including programs leading to the associate degree;
(3) Career and technical education leading directly to employment;
(4) Courses in general and continuing education for adults in the above fields;
(5) Noncredit training and retraining courses and programs of varying lengths to meet the needs of business and industry in the Commonwealth.
(b) "State Board" or "Board" means the State Board for Community Colleges.
(c) "Local community college board" means the board established to act in an advisory capacity to the State Board and to perform such duties with respect to the operation of a single comprehensive community college as may be delegated to it by the State Board.
(d) "Career and technical education" means the training, or retraining, which is given in school classes (including field or laboratory work incidental thereto), under public supervision and control, exclusive of those career and technical education programs provided and administered by, or through, the public school system and is conducted as part of a program designed to fit individuals for gainful employment as semiskilled or skilled, workers or technicians in recognized occupations.
(e) "Area career and technical school" means a career or technical school used exclusively, or principally, for providing career and technical education to persons who have completed, or left, high school, or are recommended for transfer by the school last attended, and who are available for full-time study in preparation for entering the labor market, or for part-time study after entering the labor market.
(f) "System" means the Virginia Community College System.
(g) "Career coach" means a
community college employee placed in a public high
school or other educational or workforce situation for
the purpose of helping high school students explore career aspirations, develop
career plans, connect students to workforce and college preparatory programs,
and guide students to other community college programs such as dual
enrollment and career and technical education.
§ 23-218. Plan for comprehensive community colleges; appropriations; tuition fees and charges; grants or contributions; apprenticeships.
A. The Board is authorized and directed to prepare and administer a plan providing standards and policies for the establishment, development and administration of comprehensive community colleges under its authority. It shall determine the need for comprehensive community colleges, develop a statewide plan for their location and a time schedule for their establishment. In the development of such plan, a principal objective shall be to provide and maintain a system of comprehensive community colleges through which appropriate educational opportunities and programs to accomplish the purposes set forth in subdivision (a) of § 23-214 shall be made available throughout the Commonwealth. In providing these offerings, the Board shall recognize the need for excellence in all curricula and shall endeavor to establish and maintain standards appropriate to the various purposes the respective programs are designed to serve.
B. The Board shall have the authority to control and expend funds appropriated by law, and to fix tuition fees and charges. The Board may establish policies and guidelines providing for reduced tuition rates at Virginia's community colleges for employees of the Virginia Community College System. The Board may exercise the powers conferred by Chapter 3 (§ 23-14 et seq.) of this title as any other educational institution as defined in § 23-14.
C. The Board shall be authorized, with the approval of the Governor, to accept from any government or governmental department or agency or any public or private body or from any other source, grants or contributions of money or property which the Board may use for or in aid of any of its purposes.
D. The Board shall establish policies to coordinate apprenticeship-related instruction delivered by state and local public education agencies. The Chancellor, with the approval of the State Board for Community Colleges, shall provide for the administration and supervision of related and supplemental instruction for apprentices.
E. The Board shall establish guidelines that provide for the placement of career coaches in public high schools in the Commmonwealth in cooperation with local school boards.