2023 Colorado Revised Statutes › Title 22 - EDUCATION (§§ 22-1-101 — 22-108-109) › SCHOOL DISTRICTS (§§ 22-30-101 — 22-38-115) › Article 35 - Concurrent Enrollment Programs Act (§§ 22-35-101 — 22-35-115) › Section 22-35-108.5 - Teacher recruitment education and preparation (TREP)

(1)
(a)
There is established the teacher recruitment education and preparation program, referred to in this section as the "TREP program". Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the department shall administer the TREP program pursuant to this section and guidelines established by the board pursuant to subsection (4) of this section and approved by the state board for community colleges and occupational education. The objectives of the TREP program are to:
(I)
Increase the number of students who enter the teaching profession;
(II)
Increase the percentage of students who participate in postsecondary educator preparation programs, especially among low-income and traditionally underserved populations;
(III)
Create a more diverse teacher workforce to reflect the ethnic diversity of the state;
(IV)
Decrease the amount of time that is required for a student to complete a postsecondary educator preparation degree or certificate; and
(V)
Increase the opportunities to participate in the teaching career pathway.
(b)
Notwithstanding any provisions of this article 35 to the contrary, a qualified student who is designated by the department to be a TREP program participant pursuant to subsection (2) of this section may concurrently enroll in postsecondary courses in the two years directly following the year in which the participant was enrolled in the twelfth grade of a local education provider.
(2)
(a)
Subject to available appropriations, the department may designate as a TREP program participant a qualified student who:
(I)
Is following the teaching career pathway created in section
23-60-110
and is on schedule to complete the courses specified in the teaching career pathway for the twelfth grade year and is enrolling in the postsecondary courses identified in the teaching career pathway for the fifth and sixth years;
(II)
Is not in need of a developmental education course;
(III)
Has been selected for participation in the TREP program by the participant's high school principal or equivalent school administrator;
(IV)
Has been accepted into a postsecondary degree program at an institution of higher education; and
(V)
Has satisfied any other selection criteria established by guidelines established by the board pursuant to subsection (4) of this section and approved by the state board for community colleges and occupational education.
(b)
(I)
The department, as part of its annual budget request to the general assembly, shall report the total number of potential TREP program participants for the following school year.
(II)
The general assembly shall annually fund each potential TREP program participant at the same per-pupil rate as determined by the ASCENT program as described in section
22-35-108
. For the 2022-23 budget year, the general assembly shall appropriate funding for no more than two hundred TREP program participants.
(III)
The department shall not designate a greater number of TREP program participants for a school year than the number of participants the general assembly approves for funding in the annual appropriation act for the applicable budget year.
(3)
(a)
The local education provider that enrolls a qualified student who is designated by the department as a trep program participant may include the student in the school district's funded pupil count, or, in the case of a student enrolled in an institute charter school, in the funded pupil count of the institute charter school's accounting district as determined pursuant to article 54 of this title 22.
(b)
A local education provider that receives extended high school funding, as described in article 54 of this title 22, in a budget year for program participants may expend the funding on behalf of TREP program participants who enroll in an institution of higher education during that budget year and on behalf of the TREP program participants who, by May 1 of that budget year, are admitted to an institution of higher education to participate in the TREP program during the next budget year.
(c)
The local education provider shall certify to the department by May 10 of each year the list of TREP program participants who are admitted to an institution of higher education to participate in the TREP program during the next budget year. At the end of the budget year in which the local education provider receives the extended high school funding for TREP program participants, the local education provider shall remit to the department any remaining amount of the funding that the local education provider is not using for a TREP program participant who is included on the certified list.
(4)
The board shall establish guidelines for the administration of the TREP program that are approved by the state board for community colleges and occupational education, including but not limited to selection criteria that the department may use pursuant to subsection (2)(a)(V) of this section to designate qualified students as TREP program participants.
(5)
For purposes of part 5 of article
11
of this title 22 concerning school accountability reports, the department shall include TREP program participants in the reporting requirements, regardless of whether a TREP program participant has completed the graduation requirements.
(6)
For purposes of applying the provisions of article
11
of this title 22 concerning school accountability and reporting graduation rates, a qualified student who is a TREP program participant must be counted in the enrolling school district's or institute charter school's graduation rate in the school year in which the student completes the school district's or institute charter school's minimum high school graduation requirements. The state board of education shall promulgate rules for schools and school districts to follow in satisfying state and federal reporting requirements concerning the enrollment status of TREP program participants. To the extent practicable, the rules must ensure that schools and school districts are not adversely affected in calculating and reporting the completion of high school graduation requirements by qualified students who have been designated by the department as TREP program participants. The rules must include, at a minimum, reporting requirements related to:
(a)
The provisions of article
7
of this title 22 concerning educational accountability; and
(b)
The provisions of article
11
of this title 22 concerning educational accreditation.
(7)
On or before July 1, 2031, the department shall prepare and submit to the education committees of the senate and house of representatives, or any successor committees, a report concerning the outcomes achieved by the TREP program and the effectiveness of the TREP program in meeting the objectives described in section
22-35-108.5 (1)
. Based on the outcomes achieved and the evaluation of effectiveness, the department shall include in the report a recommendation as to whether the TREP program should be continued, amended, or repealed.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 236,§ 48, eff. 5/23/2024.
Amended by 2024 Ch. 34,§ 7, eff. 3/22/2024.
Added by 2021 Ch. 246, § 5, eff. 9/7/2021.
2021 Ch. 246, was passed without a safety clause. See Colo. Const. art. V, § 1(3).