The bill authorizes home school students to participate in career and technical education (CTE) programs offered by public K-12 schools in Alabama, starting from the 2026-2027 school year. Home school students must enroll as nontraditional public school students and pay course fees equivalent to those charged to enrolled public school students. In cases where CTE programs have limited enrollment capacity, home school students will be considered for enrollment only after current public school students have been accommodated. The State Board of Education is tasked with adopting rules to implement this section, and local boards of education must create policies that align with these requirements.

Additionally, the bill clarifies that full-time, stand-alone career and technical education schools are not mandated to allow home school students to participate in their programs; however, they may choose to do so if they wish. The act will take effect on October 1, 2025. The legal language inserted into the current law includes definitions for "career and technical education" and "home school student," as well as provisions for enrollment and fee payment, while no specific deletions from current law are noted in the text provided.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 16-6J-2