Change in CTE could impact your Participant List

As you plan for the upcoming year and make campus staffing decisions, some changes TEA has made regarding CTE courses may impact your participant list and how you are billing for SHARS services.

The practice of many LEAs has been to allow special education teachers to teach certain CTE courses to students for whom the ARD committee has determined a special education setting is the least restrictive environment. In these situations, and pursuant to guidance from TEA, the CTE funding was turned off and special education funding was generated. TEA has determined that this practice should not continue, and beginning with the 2018-19 school year all CTE courses must be taught by appropriately certified CTE teachers and CTE funding will be generated.

If you were previously providing personal care services with paraprofessionals for these CTE courses, your staffing may change as others could provide this support in some situations.  In addition if a CTE teacher is providing SHARS support in conjunction with the special education provider, you may want to consider adding the CTE teacher to your participant list.

The impact on districts is as follows:

A student previously earning credit for a CTE course in a special education setting taught by a special education teacher will now have instruction provided by a CTE teacher with sped support provided by a special education teacher. That course may be taught in the general education classroom with co-teach support from a special education teacher, or in a CTED (Career and Technology for the Disabled) course with co-teach support from a special education teacher. 

The documentation being referenced regarding CTE certification, personnel assignments, and accountability can be found here: