Skill Centers.  Skill centers are regional secondary schools serving high school students from multiple school districts. They provide instruction in preparatory career and technical education (CTE) programs that are either too expensive or too specialized for school districts to operate individually.  Each skill center is operated by a host school district, and may serve as a core campus for satellite skill center programs in underserved rural areas.
 
Career and Technical Education Equivalencies.  Credits awarded through a CTE course apply to core academic and graduation requirements if equivalency requirements are met. High schools or school districts must have course equivalencies for CTE courses offered to students in high schools and skill centers.
 
The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) OSPI is required to support school district efforts to adopt course equivalencies by, in part, recommending CTE curriculum that is suitable for equivalencies, publicizing best practices of districts in developing and adopting equivalencies, and providing related technical assistance and guidance to school districts.
 
Any statewide equivalency course offered by a school district or accessed at a skill center must be offered for academic credit.

Skill Center Cooperative Agreements.  An interdistrict cooperative agreement between all participating school districts in a skill center must stipulate that any approved state and local equivalency courses offered by the host district must be honored as equivalency courses by all school districts participating in the skill center.  The list of approved local and state equivalency courses must be provided by the host district to participating districts on an annual basis by September 1st.

Credit Equivalency.  OSPI must conduct a review of equivalency implementation requirements and provide technical assistance to districts to ensure state course equivalencies are being consistently offered for academic credit for students at high schools and skill centers.  School districts must include recommendations for increasing access to equivalency coursework as part of their annual CTE reporting requirements.

Students served at any core, branch, or satellite skill center campus must have access to academic credit for any approved local or state equivalency courses offered at those sites.
 
Notification Requirements.  Prior to course scheduling or course registration for the next school term, each public school that serves students in any of grades 9 through 12 must provide all students and their parents or legal guardians with information about the opportunities for meeting credit-based graduation requirements through CTE equivalency courses, including those available within the school district or at a skill center.
 
Equivalency Development for Technology-Based Competitive Student Activities.  Subject to the appropriation of funds, the Superintendent of Public Instruction shall convene a technical working group to develop a course equivalency crosswalk for technology-based competitive student activities that complies with equivalency and content requirements.  The work group shall include educators that have experience with technology-based competitive student activities.  The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall must develop and approve course equivalencies based on the work of the technical working group.