(1) Vocational center aid shall be calculated by the Office of Skills Development and distributed by the Department of Education based upon each secondary technical center’s eligible student FTE count, once verified by the office.
(2) The department will distribute one (1) payment, during the fall and spring semesters, to each secondary center.
(b)
(1) A three-tiered funding system shall be established by the office and approved by the Career Education and Workforce Development Board to determine the amount of vocational center aid for each program of study.
(2) Program of study tier placement shall take into account the different funding needs and costs of individual programs of study, along with the workforce needs of the State of Arkansas.
(c)
(1) The amount of vocational center aid, determined by multiplying the verified FTE enrollment by the applicable tiers, may be greater than the funding available in a given fiscal year.
(2) In this scenario, the board may adjust the tiered funding rates as necessary to accommodate the funding shortfall.
(d)
(1) The funding available in a given fiscal year may be greater than the amount of vocational center aid, determined by multiplying the verified FTE enrollment by the applicable tiers.
(2) The office, in coordination with the department, would then recommend that the board take one (1) of two (2) actions:
(A) Disperse the excess funding based on need; or
(B) Carry forward the excess to the next fiscal year.
(e)
(1) Beginning with fiscal year 2022, and at the close of each fiscal year thereafter, any secondary career center that has a fund balance which exceeds twenty percent (20%) of the current year tiered revenue shall have its fall vocational center aid (VCA) payment reduced by the amount of carryover exceeding twenty percent (20%).
(2) VCA received by a secondary center not expended in accordance with Arkansas Code § 6-51-305 shall be carried forward into the succeeding year for the purpose of conducting summer programs and community-based education centers or supporting secondary technical center operations in succeeding years.