(a) Not later than January 1, 2020, and every five years thereafter, the Technical Education and Career System board shall adopt a long-range plan of priorities and goals for the Technical Education and Career System. The plan shall address coordination with other providers of vocational, technical, technological or postsecondary education or training and shall include (1) an analysis of the activities described in subsections (b) and (c) of this section and how such activities relate to the long-range plan of priorities and goals, and (2) a summary of activities related to capital improvements and equipment pursuant to subsection (d) of this section. Upon adoption of the plan, the board shall file the plan directly with the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, finance, revenue and bonding and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies in accordance with the provisions of § 11-4a. The state board shall use the plan in preparing its five-year comprehensive plan pursuant to subsection (c) of § 10-4.

(b) During the five-year period beginning January 1, 2020, and during each five-year period thereafter, the board shall evaluate each existing technical education and career school trade program in accordance with a schedule which the board shall establish. A trade program may be reauthorized for a period of not more than five years following each evaluation on the basis of: The projected employment demand for students enrolled in the trade program, including consideration of the employment of graduates of the program during the preceding five years; anticipated technological changes; the availability of qualified instructors; the existence of similar programs at other educational institutions; and student interest in the trade program. As part of the evaluation, the board shall consider geographic differences that may make a trade program feasible at one school and not another and whether certain combinations of program offerings shall be required. Prior to any final decision on the reauthorization of a trade program, the board shall consult with the craft committees for the trade program being evaluated.

(c) The board shall consider the addition of new trade programs. Decisions by the board to add such programs shall at a minimum be based on the (1) projected employment demand for graduates of the program, (2) cost of establishing the program, (3) availability of qualified instructors, (4) existence of similar programs at other educational institutions, (5) interest of students in the trade, (6) need to diversify the trade with workers from underrepresented populations, and (7) workforce training needs of (A) students, graduates and residents of alliance districts, as defined in § 10-262u, and priority school districts, as described in § 10-266p, and (B) students and graduates of priority schools, as defined in § 10-265e. The board shall authorize new trade programs for a maximum of five years. The board shall provide a process for the public, including, but not limited to, employers, parents, students or teachers, to request consideration of the establishment of a new trade program.

(d) The board shall maintain a rolling three-year capital improvement and capital equipment plan that identifies: (1) Alterations, renovations and repairs that each technical education and career school is expected to need, including, but not limited to, grounds and athletic fields, heating and ventilation systems, wiring, roofs, and windows, and the cost of such projects, (2) recommendations for energy efficiency improvements to each school and the cost of such improvements, and (3) the specific equipment each technical education and career school is expected to need, based on the useful life of existing equipment and projections of changing technology and the estimated cost of the equipment. The board shall submit such plan, annually, directly to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to education, finance, revenue and bonding and appropriations and the budgets of state agencies in accordance with the provisions of § 11-4a.