A.The community college adult education workforce development program is established within the department of education to provide adult learners with preparation for and access to integrated education and training as defined in the workforce innovation and opportunity act (P.L. 113-128; 128 Stat. 1425; 29 United States Code section 3272) and additional study and support services.
B.The department shall accept applications from program applicants beginning on July 1 and not later than June 30 of each year. The department shall determine whether each program applicant is eligible to participate in the program not later than six weeks after the department receives the program applicant's completed application. To be eligible to participate in the program, the program applicant must be a
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A. The community college adult education workforce development program is established within the department of education to provide adult learners with preparation for and access to integrated education and training as defined in the workforce innovation and opportunity act (P.L. 113-128; 128 Stat. 1425; 29 United States Code section 3272) and additional study and support services.
B. The department shall accept applications from program applicants beginning on July 1 and not later than June 30 of each year. The department shall determine whether each program applicant is eligible to participate in the program not later than six weeks after the department receives the program applicant's completed application. To be eligible to participate in the program, the program applicant must be a community college district that is established pursuant to section 15-1402, that provides high school diplomas or high school equivalency diplomas and that provides adult education and literacy activities that prepare adult learners for, or provide adult learners with access to, integrated education and training models, including workforce training, industry-recognized credentials, degree programs or workforce programs that are accredited by a regional accrediting body that is recognized by the United States department of education. If a program applicant is eligible pursuant to this subsection, the department shall distribute monies to the program applicant as prescribed in subsection D of this section.
C. A program school may receive monies pursuant to subsection D of this section for each adult learner who is a student in the program if the adult learner meets both of the following requirements:
1. Enrolls in a community college adult education program.
2. Pursues academic skills development related to adult education and literacy activities as defined in the workforce innovation and opportunity act.
D. The community college adult education workforce development program fund is established consisting of legislative appropriations and any other monies. The department shall administer the fund. Monies in the fund are continuously appropriated and are exempt from the provisions of section 35-190 relating to lapsing of appropriations. The department may use not more than five percent of the monies that are appropriated to the fund each year for the costs of administering the community college adult education workforce development program. Notwithstanding any other law, a program school shall be funded as follows:
1. The program school may receive up to $5,000 per full-time student in the program each fiscal year. Part-time students shall be funded in proportion to the number of enrolled courses or hours of instruction.
2. Each quarter, the department shall distribute fund monies to all program schools that meet the criteria prescribed in subsection B of this section in a proportional manner based on the number of adult learners each program school serves. The total amount distributed pursuant to this paragraph in any quarter may not exceed the sum of:
(a) One-fourth of the total amount that is allocated for program schools in the fiscal year.
(b) The amount of unspent monies, if any, that were allocated for program schools in a previous quarter.
E. A program school shall use monies received under this section to increase the program school's capacity to provide adult education and literacy activities that prepare adult learners for, or provide adult learners with access to, integrated education and training models that lead to industry-recognized training, industry-recognized credentials, a community college certificate or a community college degree. In addition to any monies received from the fund, a program school may accept and spend federal monies and private grants, gifts, contributions and devises to assist the program school in carrying out the purposes of this section. A portion of monies may be used for additional support services to ensure the success of adult learners in the program, including the following:
1. Transportation assistance for adult learners with a demonstrated need.
2. Child care services for dependents of adult learners while the adult learners are on-site.
3. College and career counseling.
4. Job placement assistance.
F. For each year that monies are appropriated by the legislature to the fund established by this section, on or before October 30, each participating community college shall submit a report regarding the community college adult education workforce development program to the department. The department shall compile the reports received from each participating community college and, on or before December 15 of each year, shall provide an annual report to the governor, the president of the senate, the speaker of the house of representatives and the state board of education and shall provide a copy of the report to the secretary of state. Each report must include, at a minimum, all of the following information for each participating community college for the preceding school year:
1. The number of adult learners enrolled in the program.
2. The completion rate of high school diplomas and high school equivalency diplomas earned by adult learners enrolled in the program.
3. The average progress of adult learners toward meeting completion criteria.
4. The number and type of industry-recognized credentials, community college certificates, community college degree credits and community college degrees earned by adult learners enrolled in the program.
5. A descriptive summary of the community college adult education workforce development program offered.
6. The number of adult learners who have newly acquired proficiency in the English language.
7. Information required for the performance measures adopted by the state board of education pursuant to section 15-217.
G. The department may request information from any program applicant or program school for the purposes of determining program eligibility and funding distributions pursuant to this section.
H. The department may develop a process to bring a program school into compliance or revoke the program school's authorization to participate in the program.