An Act To Create an Educational Collaborative To Implement a Program That Enables Career and Technical Education Students To Earn College Credits while Attending High School
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1412
Committee: Education and Cultural Affairs
Sponsors: LANGLEY, CHAPMAN, BURNS, CAIN, COLLINS, KATZ, MILLETT, PATRICK, THIBODEAU, THOMAS, WOODBURY, BERRY, DOAK, FREDETTE, GRANT, HUBBELL, JOHNSON, MAKER, MALABY, MASTRACCIO, MORRISON, POULIOT, TURNER, WILLETTE
Amends: 20-A MRSA §4722, 20-A MRSA §4722-A, 20-A MRSA §8306-B

Legislative Document 
No. 1412 
S.P. 506 
In Senate, April 23, 2013 
An Act To Create an Educational Collaborative To Implement a 
Program That Enables Career and Technical Education Students 
To Earn College Credits while Attending High School 
(EMERGENCY) 
Reference to the Committee on Education and Cultural Affairs suggested and ordered 
printed. 
DAREK M. GRANT 
Secretary of the Senate 
Presented by Senator LANGLEY of Hancock. 
Cosponsored by Representative CHAPMAN of Brooksville and 
Senators: BURNS of Washington, CAIN of Penobscot, COLLINS of York, KATZ of Kennebec, 
MILLETT of Cumberland, PATRICK of Oxford, THIBODEAU of Waldo, THOMAS of Somerset, 
WOODBURY of Cumberland, Representatives: BERRY of Bowdoinham, DOAK of Columbia Falls, 
FREDETTE of Newport, GRANT of Gardiner, HUBBELL of Bar Harbor, JOHNSON of Greenville, 
MAKER of Calais, MALABY of Hancock, MASTRACCIO of Sanford, McCLELLAN of Raymond, 
MORRISON of South Portland, POULIOT of Augusta, TURNER of Burlington, WILLETTE of 
Mapleton.  
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, state and national research shows that students who take college-level 
courses while in high school are more likely to graduate from high school, enter college 
and complete a college degree program; and 
Whereas, this legislation establishes a collaborative of career and technical 
education programs, high schools and publicly supported postsecondary institutions in the 
State to implement a program that enables career and technical education students to earn 
college credits while attending high school, saving students the time and money that is 
normally required to obtain a college degree; and 
Whereas, it is necessary to enact this legislation immediately in order that the 
publicly supported educational institutions in the State that are authorized to form 
collaborative agreements pursuant to this legislation may begin their efforts to establish 
dual enrollment career and technical education programs by the 2014-2015 school year; 
and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  20-A MRSA §4722, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 1983, c. 859, Pt. C, §§5 
and 7, is amended to read: 
4.  Exception.  A secondary school student who has satisfactorily completed the 
freshman year in an accredited degree-granting institution of higher education or a 
secondary school student who has satisfactorily completed the junior and senior years in a 
dual enrollment career and technical education program formed pursuant to chapter 229 
may be eligible to receive a high school diploma from the secondary school the student 
last attended, although the student may not meet the graduation requirements of this Title. 
Sec. 2.  20-A MRSA §4722-A, sub-§3, ¶B-1 is enacted to read: 
B-1.  A student who has satisfactorily completed the junior and senior years in a dual 
enrollment career and technical education program formed pursuant to chapter 229 
and who successfully demonstrates proficiency as required in subsection 1 may be 
eligible to receive a high school diploma from the secondary school the student last 
attended. 
Sec. 3.  20-A MRSA c. 229 is enacted to read: 
CHAPTER 229 
DUAL ENROLLMENT CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS 
§6971.  Definitions 
As used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms 
have the following meanings. 
1.  Collaborative.  "Collaborative" means a dual enrollment career and technical 
education collaborative formed pursuant to this chapter to provide a cohort-based 
learning pathway for career and technical education students that provides those students 
with the opportunity to take postsecondary education courses and earn credits toward an 
associate degree while participating in a career and technical education program that 
integrates secondary education and postsecondary education courses. 
2.  Collaborative agreement.  "Collaborative agreement" means an agreement 
between a secondary school, a career and technical education program and one or more 
public postsecondary education institutions in the State to form a collaborative that 
articulates a credit transfer agreement between the publicly supported educational 
institutions and that specifies each institution's responsibility for and cost of the delivery 
of specified secondary and postsecondary educational functions and support services over 
a 3-year period for a cohort-based program that provides secondary school students with 
the opportunity to take postsecondary education courses and earn credits toward an 
associate degree while participating in a career and technical education program that 
integrates secondary education and postsecondary education courses. 
3.  Collaborative board.  "Collaborative board" means the governing body 
composed of representatives of the publicly supported educational institutions with the 
powers and duties set forth in this chapter to form a dual enrollment career and technical 
education program. 
4.  Dual enrollment career and technical education program.  "Dual enrollment 
career and technical education program" means a nonduplicative learning pathway for a 
specific career and technical education program that provides secondary school students 
with the opportunity to take postsecondary education courses and earn credits toward an 
associate degree while participating in a career and technical education program that: 
A.  Provides a cohort-based experience for secondary school students to acquire 
technical skills and proficiencies, earn concurrent credits toward a high school 
diploma and a postsecondary education degree through dual enrollment in integrated 
secondary and postsecondary education courses over a 3-year period that: 
(1)  Begins with the student's junior year in secondary school; 
(2)  Includes up to 3 years of summer career academies; and 
(3)  Concludes at the end of summer following the student's senior year in 
secondary school; and 
B.  Includes individual learning plans, academic and career assessment, college and 
career advising, career exploration and job-shadowing opportunities matched to 
achieve the student's individual academic and career goals. 
5.  Publicly supported educational institution.  "Publicly supported educational 
institution" means a publicly supported secondary school, a career and technical 
education program and a public postsecondary education institution in the State. 
§6972.  Dual enrollment career and technical education program 
Representatives of the governing bodies of publicly supported educational institutions 
may file an application to the commissioner for the purpose of entering into a 
collaborative agreement.  A collaborative is governed by a collaborative board formed 
and operating in accordance with this chapter.  The participation of publicly supported 
educational institutions in any of the specified educational functions or support services 
included in the collaborative agreement is voluntary.  A collaborative board may 
designate personnel of the publicly supported educational institutions or service providers 
to provide the specified educational functions or support services included in the 
collaborative agreement.  The collaborative board must include one representative from 
each publicly supported educational institution participating in the collaborative.  The 
application for the collaborative must designate the lead publicly supported educational 
institution for the collaborative.  The chief academic officer or designee of the lead 
publicly supported educational institution shall serve as a nonvoting, ex officio member 
of the collaborative board and shall administer the collaborative agreement and serve as 
fiscal agent for the collaborative board. 
§6973.  Application; approval; ratification 
1.  Application.  An application under section 6972 for a collaborative must be in a 
form and contain such information as required by the commissioner, including, but not 
limited to: 
A.  The identification of the publicly supported educational institutions that are 
applying to form the collaborative; 
B.  The identification of the lead publicly supported educational institution; 
C.  The specified educational functions and support services to be provided by the 
collaborative, including the identification of the publicly supported educational 
institution that will participate in each specified educational function or support 
service and the number of students or staff to be served in each publicly supported 
educational institution that is participating in each specified educational function or 
support service to be carried out by the collaborative; 
D.  The duration of the collaborative agreement; 
E.  The cost estimate or operational budget for the specified educational functions or 
support services to be carried out; 
F.  The method of providing the specified educational functions or support services 
and the designation of publicly supported educational institution personnel or service 
providers who will provide the specified educational functions or support services; 
and 
G.  The method of sharing costs among the publicly supported educational 
institutions. 
2.  Approval.  If the commissioner finds that an application under section 6972 
contains the information required to be submitted pursuant to subsection 1, the 
commissioner shall notify each publicly supported educational institution participating in 
the collaborative agreement that, pending ratification as set forth in subsection 3, the 
collaborative is approved.  The commissioner shall keep a register of collaboratives that 
have been approved and ratified pursuant to this chapter. 
3.  Governing body ratification.  If the commissioner approves an application for a 
collaborative pursuant to subsection 2, the collaborative must be ratified by a majority of 
the members of the governing body of each publicly supported educational institution 
involved in the collaborative before the collaborative becomes effective. 
§6974.  Collaborative agreement 
1.  Duration of collaborative agreement.  A collaborative agreement that has been 
ratified pursuant to section 6973 is valid for the fiscal year beginning July 1st following 
the ratification vote and ends June 30th of the calendar year that coincides with the 
expiration date included in the collaborative agreement. 
2.  Renewal of collaborative.  A collaborative may be renewed only upon 
ratification by a majority of the members of the governing body of each publicly 
supported educational institution involved in the collaborative in accordance with this 
chapter. 
§6975.  Student eligibility 
A secondary school student is eligible to participate in secondary and postsecondary 
courses offered by a collaborative formed pursuant to this chapter if the following 
requirements are satisfied: 
1.  Availability.  The collaborative has space available for the secondary school 
student; 
2.  Academic standing.  The student is maintaining a minimum secondary school 
grade point average of at least 2.0 on a scale of 4.0, or the equivalent as determined by 
the collaborative board, except that the collaborative board may waive the minimum 
grade point average in the case of a student demonstrating special circumstances and a 
substantial likelihood of improvement; 
3.  Application; prerequisites.  The collaborative board has determined that the 
student has satisfactorily completed the application for admission to the program and any 
prerequisite courses; 
4.  School approval.  The secondary school approves; 
5.  Parental approval.  The student's parent or guardian approves; and 
6.  Recommendation.  The student has received a recommendation to participate in 
the dual enrollment career and technical education program from one of the 
administrators at the student's secondary school or career and technical education 
program and from one of the student's secondary school teachers. 
§6976.  Credits 
1.  High school credit.  A school administrative unit shall grant academic credit 
toward a high school diploma to a student who successfully completes a secondary course 
under this chapter. 
2.  Postsecondary credit.  A public postsecondary education institution in the State 
shall grant full credit to any secondary student who successfully completes a 
postsecondary course under this chapter.  The course must apply to graduation 
requirements at the public postsecondary education institution at which it was taken or be 
transferable to another public postsecondary education institution in the State on an equal 
basis with a course taken by any other student at the public postsecondary education 
institution at which it was taken. 
Sec. 4.  20-A MRSA §8306-B, sub-§4, as enacted by PL 2011, c. 679, §10, is 
amended to read: 
4.  Learning pathways and articulation agreements with postsecondary 
institutions; collaborative agreements.  To the greatest extent possible, a career and 
technical education program offered at a center or region must provide students the 
opportunity to take advantage of any applicable learning pathways, including learning 
pathways set forth in an articulation agreement with a postsecondary institution or in a 
collaborative agreement with publicly supported secondary and postsecondary 
educational institutions that form a dual enrollment career and technical education 
program pursuant to chapter 229. 
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved. 
SUMMARY 
This bill establishes a collaborative of publicly supported educational institutions in 
the State, including career and technical education programs, a public secondary school, a 
private secondary school approved for the receipt of public funds under the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, chapter 117, subchapter 2 that enrolls 60% or more publicly 
funded students and public postsecondary institutions in the State, to implement a 
program that enables career and technical education students to earn college credits while 
attending high school.  The program runs for 3 years, beginning with students in their 
junior year in high school, enabling students to earn an associate degree following one 
year of postsecondary education and saving students time and money in obtaining that 
degree. 
The educational collaborative will develop and implement a cohort-based learning 
pathway that enables career and technical education students to earn academic credits 
during their junior and senior years of high school that are equivalent to about a year of 
college.  The program includes opportunities for students to attend up to 3 summer career 
academies held at an area business, a career and technical education program or a public 
postsecondary education institution in the State.  The students will then move into a 
degree program at a community college or university campus and graduate with an 
associate degree within one year after receiving their high school diplomas.