(a) The Consortium shall be charged with the oversight of the development and coordination of programs in agriculture, natural resources, and food production, and education to connect youths' experiences in agriculture, natural resources, and food production to their in-school learning and develop pathways for pursuing further education related to agriculture or natural resources. It shall seek to coordinate and connect programs around common standards, coordinate resources, provide a clearinghouse for information and technical assistance, establish a strong business and education partnership, identify missing components of the system, and oversee funds made available for the express purpose of implementing these pathways. It shall endeavor to sustain and expand programming in agriculture, natural resources, and food production on a statewide basis in order to affect middle and secondary school students in Vermont. The Consortium shall seek to ensure the effectiveness of all the programs in reaching large numbers of students, and in so far as possible, seek to provide programs in all regions of the State through a statewide system with uniform availability, eligibility, and funding requirements to make such opportunities available to all students.

(b) Among the programs to be reviewed and coordinated by the Consortium are projects that involve agriculture and the environment; programs within the elementary and middle school system which provide hands-on learning, such as "Ag in the Classroom" sponsored by the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets, and "Forest, Fields, and Futures" sponsored by UVM Extension; and secondary school programs in agriculture and natural resources-related areas in education; "Smokeyhouse" and other career technical education, agriculture, and natural resources programs offered by high schools and regional CTE centers. In addition, it shall review and coordinate programs such as the Youth Conservation Corps and the Farm Youth Corps of the Department of Labor which has offered summer employment for students on farms, and other summer employment programs and alternative programs for in-school youth operated outside the public school funding system.

(c) [Repealed.]  (Added 2003, No. 122 (Adj. Sess.), § 164a; amended 2005, No. 103 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. April 5, 2006; 2013, No. 92 (Adj. Sess.), §§ 266, 302, eff. Feb. 14, 2014; 2017, No. 74, §§ 46, 142.)