53025. (a) The Superintendent, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, shall award grants on a competitive basis to grant recipients for the following:
(1) Consortium development and planning grants to support collaborative planning between a grant recipient and their program partners in the development of high-quality college and career pathways opportunities that are consistent with the requirements of this chapter. Of the amounts appropriated to support the Golden State Pathways Program, the Superintendent may use up to 10 percent of the funds for consortium development and planning grants.
(2) Implementation grants to support a grant recipient’s ability to offer participating pupils high-quality college and career pathways opportunities consistent with the requirements of this chapter. Of the amounts appropriated to support the Golden State Pathways Program, the Superintendent shall use not less than 85 percent of the funds for implementation grants.
(b) (1) Of the amounts appropriated to support the Golden State Pathways Program, the Superintendent may use up to 5 percent of the appropriation to contract, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, with up to 10 local educational agencies for the provision of technical assistance to local educational agencies, applicants, and grant recipients that is aligned to technical assistance provided for other College and career readiness initiatives, including, but not limited to, those established pursuant to this chapter and the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program pursuant to Chapter 16.5 (commencing with Section 53070). Of these technical assistance grantees, one local educational agency with demonstrated expertise in the design and implementation of college and career pathways will act as the lead technical assistance grantee and work with the department to provide leadership and direction for the other technical assistance grantees, who will provide technical assistance to different regions in the state.
(2) To be eligible for the contract pursuant to paragraph (1), the local educational agency shall commit to all of the following:
(A) Assisting local educational agencies in the continuous improvement of their Golden State Pathways Programs.
(B) Leveraging evidence-based program frameworks, such as linked learning framework and quality standards, to provide assistance to grantees.
(C) Providing prospective applicants and grantees with feedback regarding the development of their planned application, implementation, and continuous improvement of their Golden State Pathways Program and other career technical education programs, courses, and pathways that have been integrated with, or that have been aligned with, a local educational agency’s Golden State Pathways Program.
(D) Creating a community of practice network that enables grantees to share best practices with other grantees and other interested local educational agencies.
(E) Assisting grant recipients with the collection and reporting of required data pursuant to this chapter.
(3) It is the intent of the Legislature that the Superintendent identify and contract with a local educational agency to provide technical assistance consistent with the requirements of paragraph (2) not less than three months prior to grant applications being due to the Superintendent.
(4) The Superintendent, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, shall contract with an independent entity to evaluate the program’s effectiveness in meeting the goals described in Section 53021. This evaluation shall be completed no sooner than June 30, 2027, and no later than June 30, 2028.
(5) Any funds used by the Superintendent for purposes of paragraph (1) shall be available for encumbrance and expenditure for five fiscal years.
(c) In determining the grant amounts for an implementation grant and for a consortium development and planning grant, the Superintendent, in consultation with the executive director of the state board, shall consider all of the following:
(1) The number of pupils enrolled by the applicant.
(2) The number of pathways programs proposed to be established or expanded by the applicant and the number of schoolsites that would participate in the pathways program.
(3) The estimated number of pupils that would be enrolled in the applicant’s pathways programs.
(4) The number of entities collaborating with the applicant to achieve the goal outlined in subdivision (a) of Section 53021.
(d) An applicant seeking a grant under this chapter shall submit an application to the Superintendent at a time, in a manner, and with any appropriate information, as the Superintendent may reasonably require. Each grant application submitted shall include all of the following:
(1) A description and documentation of how the applicant will collaborate with their local or regional interest holders to develop or offer high-quality college and career pathways opportunities consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
(2) A description of all of the educational, career, or support services to be provided at the schoolsite, a partnering college or university site, virtually, or at the locations where eligible work-based learning would occur.
(3) A description regarding how the applicant’s Golden State Pathways Program would support the needs of the applicant’s underrepresented pupils.
(4) A description of all direct and indirect resources, and partner entities that will support the applicant’s development or implementation of high-quality college and career pathways opportunities consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
(5) A description of the applicant’s current and future efforts to sustain the ongoing operation of their Golden State Pathways Program beyond the life of their grant. Additionally, if applicants participate in the California Career Technical Education Incentive Grant Program established pursuant to Section 53070, the K–12 component of the Strong Workforce Program, or any other state college and career programs, they are encouraged to describe how they will create cohesion between those programs and college and career pathways developed or offered under the Golden State Pathways Program.
(6) Provisions for data collection and recordkeeping necessary to comply with the requirements of subdivision (c) of Section 53024 and to verify that the grant funds were expended to develop or implement high-quality college and career pathways opportunities consistent with the requirements of this chapter.
(e) (1) An applicant seeking a grant under this chapter may request both a planning and implementation grant.
(2) An applicant that is seeking both a planning and implementation grant shall submit, and receive approval of, a supplemental report to the Superintendent detailing the implementation plan developed using the resources received from their planning grant, before expending their implementation grant resources.
(f) In awarding grants pursuant to this chapter, the Superintendent shall prioritize applications submitted by a high-priority local educational agency that seeks to establish pathways programs in the following areas:
(1) Education, including early education and child development.
(2) Computer science.
(3) Health care.
(4) Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics pathways that also focus on climate resilience.
(Added by Stats. 2022, Ch. 52, Sec. 88. (AB 181) Effective June 30, 2022.)