Existing law creates the Governor's Office of Workforce Innovation within the Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation and prescribes the duties of the Office and its Executive Director, which include, without limitation, defining career pathways and identifying priority career pathways for secondary and postsecondary education. (NRS 232.965, 232.975) Under existing law, the Governor's Office of Workforce Innovation is required to establish and administer a Career Pathways Demonstration Program. Pursuant to the Program, the Office is required to identify not more than three priority industries, including K-12 education, for the development and implementation of career pathways and to take certain steps to implement the Program, including, without limitation, establishing measurable objectives for the outcomes of the Program and implementing a competitive process to select proposals for career pathway projects. (NRS 232.985) Section 3.5 of this bill requires one of the priority industries for the purposes of the Program to be health care. Existing law: (1) requires each large school district in this State, meaning any school district which has more than 100,000 pupils enrolled in its public schools (currently only the Clark County School District), to offer a Teacher Academy College Pathway Program at every high school in the school district with 250 or more pupils enrolled to enable pupils in grades 9 to 12 to prepare for employment in professions in K-12 education; (2) authorizes a large school district to offer the Program at high schools with fewer than 250 pupils; and (3) authorizes a school district which is not a large school district to offer the Program at high schools in the school district. (NRS 388.223) Section 3.7 of this bill enacts similar provisions to establish a Health Care Workforce Pathway Program. Existing law requires the State Treasurer to establish a program to provide reimbursement for tuition charges, registration fees, laboratory fees and any other mandatory fees paid to an institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education by a person who completed the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program and who worked as a full-time, licensed teacher for at least 3 consecutive school years at a public school in this State. Under existing law, the State Treasurer is authorized to provide partial reimbursement for such tuition charges and fees to a person who completed the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program and who has worked as a full-time, licensed teacher for 1 year or 2 consecutive years. (NRS 226.420) Section 3.1 of this bill authorizes the State Treasurer to provide similar reimbursements to persons who complete the Health Care Workforce Pathway Program and who work in this State in the field of health care for a certain period. Section 3.3 of this bill renames the Nevada Grown Educator Account as the Nevada Grown Educator and Health Care Workforce Account to reflect that the Account will be used to carry out the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program and the Health Care Workforce Pathway Program established pursuant to section 3.7. Existing law authorizes the Board of Regents of the University of Nevada to: (1) enter into an agreement with a school district to assist in the implementation of the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program; and (2) establish a program to identify pupils who have completed the Teacher Academy College Pathway Program, or who are expected to complete the Program by the end of grade 12, and who wish to apply for admission to an institution within the Nevada System of Higher Education, and inform such pupils of the institutions within the System where such pupils may qualify for admission. (NRS 396.1219) Section 3.9 of this bill extends similar authority to the Board of Regents to enter into an agreement with a school district to assist in the implementation of the Health Care Workforce Pathway Program established pursuant to section 3.7.

Statutes affected:
Reprint 1: 226.420, 226.425, 232.985, 396.1219