Career and technical education incentive grants for school districts and completion awards for students and making an appropriation. (FE)

The bill requires DWD to also approve industry-recognized certification programs that are designed to prepare individuals for occupations as fire fighters, emergency medical responders, or emergency medical services practitioners (public safety occupation training program). Under the bill, DWD must award all of the following:

1. A CTE incentive grant to a school district that has a public safety occupation training program approved by DWD. For each program the school district has, the amount of the incentive grant is equal to $1,000 for each student in the school district who successfully completed the program in a school year in which the program was approved by DWD.

2. A CTE completion award to a student in the amount of $500 for each public safety occupation training program the student successfully completed in a school year in which the program was approved by DWD.

Under current law, CTE incentive grants are funded from the appropriation to DWD for workplace training grants, commonly referred to as “Fast Forward” grants, and DWD must allocate not less than $3,500,000 in each fiscal year for the CTE incentive grants. Also under current law, if the amount allocated in any fiscal year is insufficient to pay the full amount per student, DWD may prorate the amount of the incentive grants that eligible school districts receive.

Under the bill, the CTE incentive grants related to public safety occupation training programs are paid from the existing allocation and may be prorated if that allocation is insufficient in any fiscal year.

The bill creates a sum sufficient appropriation to fund the student completion awards.