MA S358

Establishes a $300,000,000 competitive grant program ($100M annually for 3 years) for capital and equipment funding to expand Chapter 74 career technical education programs, with individual grants capped at $25,000,000

Increases state reimbursement rates for vocational-technical and agricultural high school construction projects by 20 percentage points, setting rates between 75-90% of eligible costs, with an additional 5 points for programs aligned with Regional Labor Market Blueprints

Requires middle schools to establish Chapter 74 Access Policies ensuring vocational-technical schools can meet with students during school hours, host tours with transportation paid by the hosting school, and receive student contact information by October 15 annually

Adds a vocational education expert to the Massachusetts School Building Authority board and adds representatives from the Massachusetts Association of Vocational Administrators and Alliance for Vocational Technical Education to the advisory council

Permits municipalities to simultaneously belong to a vocational regional school district and another regional district, and allows municipal high schools to offer vocational programs when regional vocational schools cannot meet demonstrated student and labor market demand