SECTION 1. Chapter 69 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 official edition, are hereby amended by adding the following four new sections:-

Section 37. (a) Subject to appropriation, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shall pay each school district a certification award calculated as follows:

(i) $1,000 for each student in the district who earns an industry-recognized certification for an occupation that has high employment value, as determined by the executive office of labor and workforce development through the publication of the annual list required of it pursuant to Chapter 23, section 26 of the General Laws as amended by Chapter 179 of the Acts of 2022, or an industry recognized certification that is recognized by any public institution of higher learning in the commonwealth as a basis for academic credit in such institution.

(ii) $800 for each student in the district who earns an industry-recognized certification that does not meet the criteria of the previous paragraph but addresses regional demands identified by the local MassHire Workforce Board.

The school district receiving a certification award must allocate at least 80% of any certification award to the school whose students obtained the qualifying certification. The allocation may not be used to supplant funds otherwise provided for the basic operation of the school. The school receiving a certification award must use the award to support or maintain the program, including the payment of stipends for instructors and the subsidization of fees for low income students to obtain the certification.

(b) Subject to appropriation, the Department may pay a certification development award to a school district to support the development of programs to assist students in obtaining industry-recognized certifications described in subsection (a)(i). School districts may use a certification development award to develop instructors able to prepare students to obtain certification, to obtain equipment and other instructional materials to be used for such preparation, or any other purpose directly related to developing programs to assist students in obtaining a qualifying certification.

(c) The Department shall each year prepare an annual report on the progress made under this section including:

(i) The number of public school students who are seeking certifications for high demand occupations, identifying the number of such students who are low-income, ELL and/or SPED.

(ii) The certifications earned by such students, including the number of each such certifications earned.

(iii) An analysis of the extent, if any, to which the funding provided for the program during the year was insufficient to make the awards under this section.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of this act will take effect immediately upon its passage.