Office of College, Career and Technical Education

Closing a Designated Pathway

This is the same process for closure of a state-approved Career Technical Education (CTE) program, a CTE Partnership ("After Dark") program, or an Innovation Career Pathway (ICP).

Purpose

A process for closing a state designated pathway is necessary for several reasons.

  • The process asks districts to thoughtfully consider the reasons for wanting to close a program. See Pathways Strategies.
  • The process considers many of the same questions asked when seeking to open a program such as, "Is there sufficient local labor market demand for the associated career pathways?"
  • The process requires districts to put students at the center of the plan, ensuring that all currently enrolled students have an option to complete their program. This includes non-resident students.

A program should never close or be discontinued without a closure plan.

Please review the Closure Plan FAQ .

Steps

  • The program closure process begins with submitting the Intent to Close form to the Office of College, Career, and Technical Education (CCTE). Once you submit an Intent, your CCTE Liaison will reach out to you. The CCTE Liaison may request a meeting to discuss the plans.
  • Following discussion with the CCTE Liaison, the district submits a Closure Plan. Please review the Closure Plan Model .
  • When a closure plan has met all requirements, a letter is issued to the district superintendent. The letter will include the date by which the program will be removed from the district/school profiles page, at which point the district will no longer be able to report student enrollment.

Reporting

Once a program closure plan is approved, districts should only report those students who are already enrolled. Enrolled students can be reported through program completion.

Exploratory

When a closure plan is approved, districts should stop including the program in the exploratory rotation. Closure plans must include a plan for communicating the program closure to the community. This communication plan would address exploratory for those schools operating an exploratory program.

References

The CTE regulations address CTE program closures in section 4.04: Program Approval Procedures and Policies.

  • A school district that seeks to discontinue an approved vocational technical education program shall submit a closure plan to the Department that includes a timetable for program closure, information outreach to affected students and their parents/guardians, and options for students to complete the vocational technical education program.

Resources

Every district is assigned a CCTE Liaison, who serves as the primary contact for questions and discussions on pathways at your district. A complete list of liaisons is available. Please use this link to sign up for Office Hours with your CCTE Liaison.

CCTE staff overseeing each designated pathway:

Last Updated: December 22, 2025

Top