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, 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 rules.

Additionally, the bill clarifies that full-time, stand-alone career and technical education schools are not required to allow home school students to participate in their programs, but they may choose to do so. The act will take effect on October 1, 2025. The bill includes new legal language that defines terms such as "career and technical education" and "home school student," while no deletions from current law are specified.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 16-6J-2