Senator Putnam asked what ramifications occur if the regulations set by the federal government for the spending of grant funds are not followed. Mr. Vik said that DECA would be written up initially and then if it continued, DECA had to pay the funds back.

Representative Klaudt asked if DECA had tried to employ a grant writer. Mr. Vik explained that the salary a grant writer would require was over the amount DECA could budget.

Senator Drake asked about the increase in Impact Aid. Mr. Vik said the increase made up for the air force base land that states cannot tax and 30 of the schools in South Dakota benefit from Impact Aid.

Ms. Tammy Bauck, Director of Technology, Department of Education and Cultural Affairs, approached the committee. She spoke on the TTL program.

Representative Adelstein asked if any other state is using this program. Ms. Bauck stated that no other state is involved in it this thoroughly.

Representative Clark asked if the state universities receive compensation for the use of their buildings and if the universities feel that the TTL program is competition. Ms. Bauck stated that the universities are very supportive, and it is a benefit to the universities.

Senator Drake asked about the Regent Scholar Program and if the smaller school districts will receive as beneficial of training and support as larger districts. Ms. Bauck said that there is a lot of mentoring between school districts and teachers use DDN to broadcast to schools elsewhere where there aren't teachers.

Representative Clark asked how problems were resolved between teachers and students when actual physical distance was so great. Ms. Bauck said that they use email, letters, and the phone to communicate.

Senator Duxbury asked what the number of students are in each of the distance learning classes. Ms. Bauck said it is the same as a traditional classroom, 25-30 students.

Ms. Bauck spoke about the Mega Web-Site and the need for one FTE for the BIT process and search engine data system.

Representative Clark asked if DECA is paying the teachers to compile the data. Ms. Bauck said that they are.

The committee recessed at 10:00 AM.

The committee reconvened at 10:15 AM.

Ms. Bauck explained the Gates Leadership Grant and how it works with the state mentor programs. She also explained the Star Schools Program.

Representative Clark asked if either the Gates Grant or the Star Schools Program required a match in state funds. Ms. Bauck said that both of them have to be matched.

Representative Clark asked if the $500,000 in FY00 budget for research of other states programs have been used. Mr. Christensen said that some other states know about it, most states aren't doing it, and it is hard to find experts in other states but DECA has worked with international departments and is making progress.

Senator Drake asked if every high school in the state had a VTEL system. Mr. Christensen said that each high school has the ability to communicate with other schools, but not all of them use the VTEL system. If a school already had a compatible system installed, DECA did not supply them with a VTEL system.

Mr. Pat Keating, Director of Vocational Education, approached the committee. He spoke about the per student technical institute funding and the comparison of actual versus hypothetical.

Senator Drake asked if an increase of out of state students would be beneficial to the technical institutes. Mr. Keating said that there hasn't been any increase or decrease in the amount of out of state students and that the deletion and addition of new programs are what is becoming very beneficial to the technical institutes.

Representative Clark asked the percentage of students who graduate from the technical institutes and then go on to Board of Regents schools. Mr. Keating said that the number was less than five percent.

Senator Apa asked if there is an average wage for those graduating from a technical school. Mr. Keating said that the average wage must stay above $8.00 per hour or they drop the program of study from their curriculum.

Mr. Chris Paustian, Director of Mitchell Technical Institute, approached the committee. Mr. Paustian discussed the programs available and the job placement of MTI graduates.

Senator Putnam asked if MIT still had a nursing program. Mr. Paustian said that MTI does not at this time, but is considering reactivating their LPN program.

Mr. Ray Mueller, Director of Western Dakota Tech, approached the committee. He discussed the customized training programs WDT is implementing to aid surrounding corporations.

Representative Pummel asked if the corporations pay for the training of their employees. Mr. Mueller said they are given a cost for special training per employee.