An Act authorizing establishment of the North Central Kansas technical college; amending K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 72-4412 and repealing the existing section.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas:

New Section 1. (a) The North Central Kansas area vocational-tech- nical school is authorized to be converted to and established as a technical college and, upon such conversion and establishment as provided by law, shall be officially designated as the North Central Kansas technical col- lege.

(b) Whenever the North Central Kansas area vocational-technical school is referred to or designated by or in any statute, contract or other document, such reference or designation shall be deemed to apply to the North Central Kansas technical college.

Sec. 2. K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 72-4412 is hereby amended to read as follows: 72-4412. As used in this act:

(a) ``Board'' means the board of education of any school district, the board of trustees of any community college, the board of regents of any municipal university, the board of control of any area vocational-technical school, the governing body of any technical college, or the state board of regents.

(b) ``Area vocational school'' means any vocational education school established under authority of the laws of this state, approved and offi- cially designated as an area vocational school by the state board, and operated under the board of education of a school district, the board of trustees of a community college, the state board of regents, or the board of regents of a municipal university. Any area vocational school, except for purposes of the construction of this act, may retain and use the name given to such school prior to the effective date of this act, even though such name includes the words ``area vocational-technical school.'' Until this provision is amended by or repealed from law, the state board shall not approve the establishment or operation of any area vocational school which has not been approved for establishment or officially designated as an area vocational school prior to the effective date of this act, except that a community college which is consolidated with an area vocational school or area vocational-technical school under the provisions of K.S.A. 71-1701 through 71-1706, and amendments thereto, may be designated as an area vocational school.

(c) ``Area vocational-technical school'' means any vocational educa- tion school which was classified as a type II area vocational-technical school under authority of former laws or which is established and classi- fied as a type II area vocational-technical school under authority of this act. The schools to which this definition applies are:

(1) Southeast Kansas area vocational-technical school;

(2) Northwest Kansas area vocational-technical school; and

(3) North Central Kansas area vocational-technical school; and

(4) Johnson county area vocational-technical school.

The governing body of an area vocational-technical school shall be called a board of control and shall be constituted as is provided by agree- ment of the boards participating therein. Members of the board of control shall be paid subsistence allowances, mileage and other actual and nec- essary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties. The state board may adopt special rules and regulations applicable to the con- duct, operation and administration of area vocational-technical schools. Nothing in this act shall be construed to authorize the establishment or operation of any area vocational-technical school not specifically desig- nated in this subsection. Unless approved by the state board of education, no area vocational-technical school shall construct or reconstruct or ac- quire any building or land until this provision is amended or repealed from the law. Nothing in this act shall be deemed to prevent any board from entering into an agreement for participation in the operation of any area vocational-technical school designated in this subsection; nor shall any board which is now or hereafter a participant in the operation of such an area vocational-technical school be prevented by the provisions of this act from withdrawing therefrom in the absence of a written agreement to the contrary.

(d) ``School district'' means any school district organized under the laws of this state.

(e) ``Community college'' means any community college organized and operating under the laws of this state.

(f) ``Municipal university'' means a municipal university established under the provisions of article 13a of chapter 13 of Kansas Statutes An- notated.

(g) ``State educational institution'' means the university of Kansas, Kansas state university of agriculture and applied science, Wichita state university, Emporia state university, Pittsburg state university, Fort Hays state university, and Kansas state university--Salina, college of technol- ogy.

(h) ``Technical college'' means an educational institution that for- merly was an area vocational school or an area vocational-technical school and that has been converted to, established as, and officially designated a technical college under authority of this act.

(i) ``State board'' means the state board of education.

(j) ``School year'' means the twelve-month period ending on June 30.

(k) ``Vocational education'' means organized educational programs of- fering a sequence of courses which are directly related to the preparation of individuals in paid or unpaid employment in current or emerging oc- cupations requiring other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree. Such programs shall include competency-based applied learning which con- tributes to an individual's academic knowledge, higher-order reasoning, and problem-solving skills, work attitudes, general employability skills, and the occupational-specific skills necessary for economic independence as a productive and contributing member of society. The term vocational education also includes technology education.

(l) ``Technology education'' means an applied discipline designed to promote technological literacy which provides knowledge and under- standing of the impacts of technology including its organizations, tech- niques, tools and skills to solve practical problems and extend human capabilities in technological areas.

(m) ``State plan'' means a document or set of documents, together with attachments and supplements thereto, containing such provisions as are authorized by this act and required by the Carl D. Perkins vocational and applied technology education act of 1990, and acts amendatory thereof or supplemental thereto.

(n) ``Associate of applied science degree program'' means a program that is offered and maintained by a technical college, composed of vo- cational, technology, and general education courses of instruction for which individuals may earn college credit, designed to prepare individuals for gainful employment in technical or technological occupations requir- ing other than a baccalaureate or advanced degree or to qualify individuals for transfer to another college or university and, after satisfactory com- pletion of the requirements for graduation, results in the conferral of an associate of applied science degree. For the purpose of awarding college credit for completion of coursework leading to the conferral of an asso- ciate of applied science degree, a credit hour shall consist of 15 clock hours of instruction in general education courses or 30 clock hours of instruction in vocational or technology education courses.

Sec. 3. K.S.A. 1995 Supp. 72-4412 is hereby repealed.

Sec. 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the statute book.

Approved March 22, 1996.