Regional Planning Partnerships & Regional Centers

Regional career and technical education planning partnerships (RPPs) assist school districts in providing an effective, efficient and economical means of delivering high-quality secondary career and technical education programs. Achieving equitable access to high-quality CTE programming for all students requires a strong, consistent commitment to collaboration and regional partnerships on the part of all education stakeholders across the state including secondary, postsecondary, community, and business partners. By sharing capital, resources and talent, with the goal of establishing and providing students with consistent access to high-quality CTE programs, RPPs play an active and prominent role in the planning and delivery of quality CTE programming within their region.

RPP Membership and Meetings

The RPP is the joint responsibility of the area education agency (AEA) and community college located withing the region. The RPP will meet at least twice per academic year. Stakeholders from each member district of the partnership are to be included in the meetings.

Membership of the RPP should include the following:

• The superintendent of a school district within the RPP, or the superintendent’s designee.
• The president of a community college within the RPP, or the president’s designee.
• The chief administrator of an area education agency within the RPP, or the chief administrator’s designee.
• Representatives of regional economic and workforce entities including regional advisory boards.
• Representatives of business and industry, including representatives of regional industry sector partnerships.
• Career and technical education secondary teachers and postsecondary faculty.

RPP Duties

The RPP will perform the following duties on a continuing basis:

• Develop a multiyear plan, which is to be updated annually. The multiyear plan will outline the partnership’s goals, objectives and outcomes; how the partnership will execute authority and the duties assigned to the RPP; and how the partnership will secure collaboration with secondary schools, postsecondary educational institutions, and employers to ensure students have access to high-quality CTE programming, including career academies, that aligns career guidance, twenty-first century CTE and academic curricula and work-based learning opportunities that empower students to be successful learners and practitioners.
• Collect and review all relevant plans pursuant to:
  • The Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act (Perkins V)
  • Career and academic plans under 281–Chapter 49
• Ensure compliance with standards adopted by the board for RPPs
• Appropriately expend RPP funds
• Collect, review and make available to districts appropriate labor market, socioeconomic and other state, regional or national information necessary for completing the program approval and review process
• Review CTE programs of school districts within the region and recommend to the Department CTE programs for approval
• Coordinate and facilitate advisory councils for CTE programs and, as necessary, establish regional advisory councils to serve in the same capacity as local advisory councils
• Plan for regional centers with the purpose of achieving access to high-quality CTE programming and concurrent enrollment opportunities for all students

RPP Funds

An RPP may use funds received from the state on behalf of school districts and community colleges participating in the RPP for the following:

• Staffing and resources to ensure the minimum duties and responsibilities of the RPP are satisfactorily executed.
• To offer regional CTE professional development opportunities; coordinate, maintain and support a career guidance system and related work-based learning opportunities for students and purchase CTE equipment and curricular resources to include standard classroom consumable supplies directly related to and necessary for course curriculum, other than basic consumable supplies that will be made into products to be sold or used personally by students, teachers and other persons.

Regional Centers

Maximizing the impact of collaboration and regional planning requires a location that is able to deliver high-quality advanced CTE coursework by internalizing the high capital costs to cohesively offer structured programming and garner the necessary, yet scarce, teacher and other professional talent so that all students in Iowa are able to consistently access high-quality advanced CTE coursework all across Iowa. Regional centers have proven to be an effective means of delivering high-quality advanced CTE programs to high school student, especially in rural communities.

Regional centers must be a product of regional collaboration and partnerships. Secondary, postsecondary, community and business partners must collectively agree to arrangements which take into consideration the unique circumstances of their institutions and communities. A regional center shall comply with standards adopted by the board and shall consist of a minimum of four career academies. A regional center shall be compatible with development of a statewide system of regional centers serving all students. A regional Center shall serve either of the following:

1. A combined minimum of 120 students from no fewer than two school districts.
2. A minimum of four school districts.

Regional centers should establish integrated CTE curriculum based on career pathways with thoughtful career guidance as well as meaningful work-based learning experiences that give practicality to an integrated curriculum. The Career Academy Incentive Fund is a competitive opportunity for regions to gain funding for regional centers.