(a)On or before January 1, 2020, the Board of Regents for Higher Education shall establish a pilot program for the expansion of advanced manufacturing certificate programs to public high schools in the state. The board shall (1) prescribe the form and manner in which local or regional boards of education may apply to the board to participate in the pilot program, (2) establish the criteria to be used by the board in selecting a public high school to participate in the pilot program, which shall include, but need not be limited to, prioritizing the placement of such advanced manufacturing certificate programs in areas of the state where (A) there is a need for a workforce trained in advanced manufacturing, (B) there are economically distressed municipalities, (C) residents do not have acce
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(a) On or before January 1, 2020, the Board of Regents for Higher Education shall establish a pilot program for the expansion of advanced manufacturing certificate programs to public high schools in the state. The board shall (1) prescribe the form and manner in which local or regional boards of education may apply to the board to participate in the pilot program, (2) establish the criteria to be used by the board in selecting a public high school to participate in the pilot program, which shall include, but need not be limited to, prioritizing the placement of such advanced manufacturing certificate programs in areas of the state where (A) there is a need for a workforce trained in advanced manufacturing, (B) there are economically distressed municipalities, (C) residents do not have access to advanced manufacturing certificate programs within close proximity to their homes, and (D) there is sufficient space in a public high school to operate an advanced manufacturing certificate program, and (3) explore the means of funding the pilot program through public-private partnerships, grant programs, federal funds or state funds through the Workforce Investment Boards, any relevant program of the Department of Economic and Community Development, the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Fund and the Labor Department's office of apprenticeship training. The board may select not more than one public high school per year in which to establish an advanced manufacturing certificate program. (b) Any local or regional board of education, separately or jointly with other local or regional boards of education in the surrounding area, may apply to participate in the pilot program in the form and manner prescribed by the Board of Regents for Higher Education. Each local or regional board of education that is selected and chooses to participate in the pilot program, whether separately or jointly, shall enter into a memorandum of understanding and any other relevant agreement with the Board of Regents for Higher Education for the operation of the advanced manufacturing certificate program at a public high school within the school district of such local or regional board of education. Notwithstanding sections 4b-23 , 4b-30 and 4b-32 and subdivision (15) of subsection (a) of section 10a-6 , the Board of Regents for Higher Education may enter into a memorandum of understanding and any other relevant agreement with a local or regional board of education for the purposes of this section. Such memorandum of understanding shall include, but need not be limited to, (1) the number of high school and college credits the students enrolled in the advanced manufacturing certificate program may earn after successful completion of such program, (2) operating hours and staffing levels for the advanced manufacturing certificate program at a public high school, and (3) the standards for student admission and the process for application to the advanced manufacturing certificate program. (c) The Board of Regents for Higher Education may collaborate with an independent institution of higher education, as defined in section 10a-173 , that offers an advanced manufacturing certificate program for the operation of an advanced manufacturing certificate program at a public high school, provided the local or regional board of education that is selected and chooses to participate in the pilot program agrees to such collaboration. If the local or regional board of education agrees to such collaboration, such local or regional board of education shall enter into a memorandum of understanding and any other relevant agreement with the independent institution of higher education for the operation of an advanced manufacturing certificate program at a public high school within the school district of such local or regional board of education. (d) Beginning in the fall semester of 2020, and for each academic semester thereafter, each advanced manufacturing certificate program established at a public high school shall enroll (1) public high school students in grade eleven or twelve from the school districts of the local or regional board or boards of education that have entered into the memorandum of understanding pursuant to subsection (b) or (c) of this section, to simultaneously earn high school credits from the public high school in which the student is enrolled and college credits and an advanced manufacturing certificate from the regional community-technical college or the independent institution of higher education that operates the advanced manufacturing certificate program, and (2) upon the approval of the local or regional board of education, adults for classes during the evening and weekend hours to earn an advanced manufacturing certificate from the regional community-technical college or the independent institution of higher education that operates the advanced manufacturing certificate program. (e) Not later than January 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, the president of the Board of Regents for Higher Education, in consultation with the president of any independent institution of higher education with which the board collaborates pursuant to subsection (c) of this section, shall report, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a , to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to higher education and employment advancement and education on the operation and effectiveness of the pilot program and any recommendations to expand the pilot program.