Regional institutes; area schools; branch schools

A. In order to provide postsecondary vocational-technical facilities in accordance with needs for the facilities and with efficient administration, operations and budgeting, the postsecondary vocational-technical education facilities shall be classified into the categories defined below, which categories may be further defined by additional criteria, statewide in application and uniform within each classification which may be adopted by the board. (1) Regional institutes: A regional institute is a facility located in the largest urban area of a region at which a wide variety of programs, ranging approximately from thirty to seventy-five in number, can be offered, and at which vocational-technical education can be offered for the area at which the institute is located, as well as the more technical and sophisticated programs which it is not feasible to efficiently offer at the smaller vocational-technical educational facilities. (2) Area schools: An area school is a facility serving an attendance area of not less than fifty thousand population except in multiparish areas where distance is a barrier, serving a maximum radius of fifty miles with the majority of the population within twenty-five miles; and providing a minimum of ten diversified programs. No more than one area school shall be located in any approved area unless the area population exceeds three hundred thousand population in which event an additional campus may be established. Area schools shall be located centrally to provide maximum accessibility to population to be served. (3) Branch schools: A branch school is a facility with fewer than ten diversified programs with a minimum of fifteen students enrolled to initiate a program. Such a facility may be established where extreme natural barriers isolate a sizeable concentration of population from a regional or area school. (4) Extension courses: Programs administered through regional institutes to provide training in leased or donated facilities in areas that would be isolated or impacted. B. The board shall have the authority to establish the classification of a school, based on criteria in Part A of this section, and shall have the authority to reclassify a school when it fails to meet such criteria. The board shall also have the authority to establish extension programs as set forth in R.S. 17:2002.