256.40  Statewide work-based learning intermediary network — fund — steering committee — regional networks.
  1.  A statewide work-based learning intermediary network program is established in the department and shall be administered by the department. A separate, statewide work-based learning intermediary network fund is created in the state treasury under the control of the department. The fund shall consist of all moneys deposited in the fund, including any moneys appropriated by the general assembly and any other moneys available to and obtained or accepted by the department from federal or private sources for purposes of the program. Notwithstanding section 8.33, moneys in the fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not revert to the general fund of the state. Notwithstanding section 12C.7, subsection 2, interest or earnings on moneys in the fund shall be credited to the fund.
  2.  The purpose of the program shall be to prepare students for the workforce by connecting business and the education system and offering relevant, work-based learning activities to students and teachers. The program shall:
  a.  Better prepare students to make informed postsecondary education and career decisions.
  b.  Provide communication and coordination in order to build and sustain relationships between employers and local youth, the education system, and the community at large.
  c.  Connect students to local career opportunities, creating economic capital for the region using a skilled and available workforce.
  d.  Provide a one-stop contact point for information useful to both educators and employers, including information on internships, job shadowing experiences, and other workplace learning opportunities for students, particularly related to science, technology, engineering, or mathematics occupations, occupations related to critical infrastructure and commercial and residential construction, or targeted industries as defined in section 15.102.
  e.  Integrate services provided through the program with other career exploration-related activities such as the student core curriculum plan and the career information and decision-making system developed and administered under section 279.61, where appropriate.
  f.  Facilitate the attainment of portable credentials of value to employers such as the national career readiness certificate, where appropriate.
  g.  Develop work-based capacity with employers.
  h.  Provide core services, which may include student job shadowing, student internships, and teacher or student tours.
  3.  The department shall establish and facilitate a steering committee comprised of representatives from the department of workforce development, the economic development authority, the community colleges, the institutions under the control of the state board of regents, accredited private institutions, area education agencies, school districts, and the workplace learning connection. The steering committee shall be responsible for the development and implementation of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network.
  4.  The steering committee shall develop a design for a statewide network comprised of fifteen regional work-based learning intermediary networks. The design shall include network specifications, strategic functions, and desired outcomes. The steering committee shall recommend program parameters and reporting requirements to the department.
  5.  Each regional network shall establish an advisory council to provide advice and assistance to the regional network. The advisory council shall include representatives of business and industry, including construction trade industry professionals, and shall meet at least annually.
  6.  Each regional network or consortium of networks shall annually submit a work-based learning plan to the department. Each plan shall include provisions to provide core services referred to in subsection 2, paragraph “h”, to all school districts within the region and for the integration of job shadowing and other work-based learning activities into secondary career and technical education programs.
  7.  a.   Moneys deposited in the statewide work-based learning intermediary network fund created in subsection 1 shall be distributed annually to each region for the implementation of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network upon approval by the department of the region’s work-based learning plan submitted pursuant to subsection 6.
  b.  If the balance in the statewide work-based learning intermediary network fund on July 1 of a fiscal year is one million five hundred thousand dollars or less, the department shall distribute moneys in the fund to regions or consortiums of regions on a competitive basis. If the balance in the statewide work-based learning intermediary network fund on July 1 of a fiscal year is greater than one million five hundred thousand dollars, the department shall distribute one hundred thousand dollars to each region and distribute the remaining moneys pursuant to the formula established in section 260C.18C.
  8.  The department shall provide oversight of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network. The department shall require each region to submit an annual report on its ongoing implementation of the statewide work-based learning intermediary network program to the department.
  9.  Each regional network shall match the moneys received pursuant to subsection 7 with financial resources equal to at least twenty-five percent of the amount of the moneys received pursuant to subsection 7. The financial resources used to provide the match may include private donations, in-kind contributions, or public moneys other than the moneys received pursuant to subsection 7.
  10.  The state board of education shall adopt rules under chapter 17A for the administration of this section.
2005 Acts, ch 154, §1
; 2006 Acts, ch 1030, §31
; 2011 Acts, ch 118, §85, 89
; 2013 Acts, ch 141, §34