Relating to college, career, and military readiness in public schools, including career and technology education programs, the Financial Aid for Swift Transfer (FAST) program, and the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) program, funding for those programs under the Foundation School Program, and workforce reporting to support those programs, to the public school accountability system, and to the new instructional facility allotment and the permissible uses of funding under the Foundation School Program.

Contracts

• Payroll Vendor SLAs: Review service agreements with payroll providers (e.g., ADP, Paycom). You must confirm they will support the new TWC data fields by September 1, 2025. If they fail to update, your business remains liable for non-compliant filings.
• P-TECH/R-PEP MOUs: If you partner with a school district, renegotiate your Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The district’s allotment for P-TECH students has increased from $50 to $150. Amending the contract to require the district to reinvest these funds into your specific workforce training equipment or transportation is strategically sound.
• Real Estate Leases: If you lease property to a school district for instructional use, the lease term must be at least 10 years for the district to qualify for the expanded New Instructional Facility Allotment (NIFA). Short-term leases will disqualify your tenants from state funding.

Hiring/Training

• HR Data Mapping: HR departments must immediately map internal job titles to Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes or the equivalent taxonomy TWC adopts.
• Advising Certification: If your business provides contracted career advisors to schools, ensure staff meets the new training standards for "college and career advising" mandated by the TEA Commissioner, or funding for those positions will be revoked.

Reporting & Record-Keeping

• Enhanced Wage Filing: Quarterly reports to the TWC must now include:
• 1. Occupational field (job classification).
• 2. Remote work status (remote, hybrid, on-site).
• 3. Full-time vs. part-time status.
• 4. County of primary employment (where the work is performed, not necessarily HQ).
• Partnership Verification: Maintain records of student participation in internships/apprenticeships to validate "work-based education" metrics, which now directly impact school accountability ratings.

Fees & Costs

• Administrative Costs: Expect a medium, one-time cost to upgrade HRIS/Payroll software to capture the new mandatory fields.
• Funding Opportunity: The cap for the Rural Pathway Excellence Partnership (R-PEP) has increased to $20 million annually. Rural businesses should aggressively pursue these grants for local workforce development.