(a) (1) It is the intent of the General Assembly to:

(A) Increase high school graduation rates, potential job opportunities, and educational opportunities that will prepare students for success in college and the workplace;

(B) Establish intergovernmental cooperation between postsecondary institutions and local boards of education and collaboration with business, industry, and community stakeholders to aid relevant education programs and in the development and support of new and existing college and career academies in Georgia;

(C) Assist in the development of academic and career ready curriculum;

(D) Establish and manage support grant opportunities and awards for new and existing college and career academies;

(E) Establish a process that allows for college and career academy certification; and

(F) Collect and analyze data to evaluate the effectiveness of dual credit and dual enrollment programs, secondary and postsecondary partnerships, and college and career academics.

(2) The General Assembly finds that to accomplish these goals an office should be established to coordinate the efforts of the various education agencies.

(b) As used in this Code section, the term:

(1) "Board" means the State Board of the Technical College System of Georgia.

(2) "Certification" means a formal process established by the Office of College and Career Transitions, and approved by the board, in which college and career academies successfully demonstrate appropriate levels of student achievement, community sustainability, work force development, and school level governance.

(3) "Charter petitioner" means a local board of education, group of local boards of education, private individual, private organization, state or local public entity, or any group of these that submits a petition for a charter in cooperation with one or more postsecondary institutions which have petitioned to establish a college and career academy as a charter school pursuant to Article 31 or Article 31A of Chapter 2 of this title.

(4) "Charter school" shall mean the schools included in paragraph (3) of Code Section 20-2-2062 and in paragraph (5) of Code Section 20-2-2081.

(5) "College and career academy" means a specialized school established as a charter school or pursuant to a contract for a strategic waivers school system or charter system, which formalizes a partnership that demonstrates a collaboration between business, industry, and community stakeholders to advance work force development between one or more local boards of education, a private individual, a private organization, or a state or local public entity in cooperation with one or more postsecondary institutions. A charter school, charter system, or strategic waivers school system contract establishing a college and career academy shall include provisions requiring that the college and career academy have a governing board reflective of the school community and the partnership with decision-making authority and requiring that governing board members complete initial and annual governance training, including, but not limited to, best practices on school governance, the constitutional and statutory requirements relating to public records and meetings, and the requirements of applicable statutes and rules and regulations.

(6) "Office" means the Office of College and Career Transitions established pursuant to subsection (c) of this Code section.

(7) "Postsecondary institution" means a local technical college, community college, university, or other postsecondary institution operating under the authority of the Technical College System of Georgia or the University System of Georgia or other not for profit postsecondary institution accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.

(8) "Start-up costs" means initial operating or capital costs, including, but not limited to, costs of improving real property.

(9) "Supplemental funding" means funding for purposes other than start-up costs which are related to the establishment and operation of college and career academies.

(c) The Office of College and Career Transitions shall be established within the Technical College System of Georgia to coordinate the efforts by the State Board of Education, the University System of Georgia, the Technical College System of Georgia, and other not for profit postsecondary institutions accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools in the professional development, curriculum support, and development and establishment of college and career academies.

(d) The board shall be authorized to allocate funds, including state funds, federal funds, proceeds of general obligation debt, or any other available funds, for a particular purpose for college and career academies for start-up costs or for other purposes related to the establishment and operation of such academies by a grant consideration process.

(e) A charter petitioner for a college and career academy that has submitted for approval or that has drafted for submission for approval a charter petition for a college and career academy or a local school system that is proposing a college and career academy as part of a contract to be a strategic waivers school system or charter system shall be authorized to submit to the board an application for start-up funds for such college and career academy. The board shall approve applications for start-up funds for college and career academies that meet the criteria and requirements established pursuant to subsections (i) and (j) of this Code section. As part of such funding application process, the office shall consider charter applications for college and career academies in cooperation with the Office of Charter School Compliance and consider proposed college and career academies as part of contracts to be strategic waivers school systems or charter systems and make recommendations to the State Board of Education for the approval, denial, and renewal of college and career academy charter petitions or proposed college and career academies within strategic waivers school systems or charter systems and specify the reasons for such recommendations. The State Board of Education shall consider such a recommendation from the office prior to approving or denying a charter petition for a college and career academy or a proposal for a college and career academy as part of a contract to be a strategic waivers school system or charter system. Funds shall not be released to an approved applicant unless the charter petition is approved by the State Board of Education pursuant to Article 31 of Chapter 2 of this title or the Georgia Charter Schools Commission in accordance with Article 31A of Chapter 2 of this title or unless the contract for a strategic waivers school system or charter system which is proposing a college and career academy has been approved.

(f) The board shall be authorized to disburse supplemental funding to existing or new college and career academies which demonstrate a need for such funding.

(g)

(1) The office shall establish a certification process, in collaboration with the Department of Education, for approval by the board. The office shall be authorized to certify college and career academies. The State Board of Education shall accept certification by the office as one component of determining compliance with charter and strategic waivers school system or charter system contract requirements. The State Board of Education may request supplemental information from charter petitioners, strategic waivers school systems, or charter systems.

(2) Any certification process established pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection shall require that the applicant demonstrates how the proposed college and career academy will increase student achievement, provide for dual credit and dual enrollment opportunities, increase work based learning opportunities, and address work force development needs; articulates how the collaboration between business, industry, and community stakeholders will advance work force development; demonstrates local governance and autonomy; and shows other benefits that meet the needs of the students and community.

(3) Certification by the office shall constitute a positive recommendation to the State Board of Education for renewal of a charter school or charter system pursuant to Code Section 20-2-2064.1 or an extension of a strategic waivers school system contract pursuant to Article 4 of Chapter 2 of this title.

(h) The office shall be responsible for collecting and analyzing appropriate data from and about college and career academies on matters consisting of but not limited to college and career academy effectiveness. Collecting and reporting of data shall be in coordination with the Office of Charter School Compliance.

(i) The board shall establish eligibility criteria, requirements, and procedures for the disbursement of funding to college and career academies pursuant to this Code section. Such criteria, requirements, and procedures shall consider the strength of the proposed cooperative arrangements between the local board of education, the group of local boards of education, a private individual, a private organization, or a state or local public entity and one or more postsecondary institutions and must include active support from and a partnership with local business and community leaders for the college and career academy. The board may establish a matching requirement for recipients of funds under this Code section.

(j) A college and career academy receiving funds pursuant to this Code section shall submit an annual report to the board regarding the performance of such academy and the expenditure of funds received pursuant to this Code section. The report shall include, but not be limited to, academic data, financial statements, an evaluation of the progress relative to relationships between and among the business, industry, and community stakeholders, and any other information requested by the board to demonstrate the yearly progress or effectiveness of the college and career academy.

(k) Representatives from business, industry, civic, and governmental agencies and educational organizations which are designated by the commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia shall advise the board on matters pertaining to both the certification and governance of college and career academies.