An area career and technical board may establish, maintain, conduct and operate schools, departments or classes to prepare for career and technical industrial, career and technical agricultural, career and technical family and consumer sciences, business, computer and information technology and career and technical marketing and distributive occupations, technical occupations, such as aides and assistants, in physical, biological, space and other sciences, mathematics, engineering, construction and design, computer programming and maintenance, and health occupations and for any other occupations requiring career or technical training and education, to be known as “area career and technical schools,” for the education of pupils, out-of-school youth and adults residing in the attendance area.

An area career and technical board or several area career and technical boards jointly may provide for, establish, maintain, conduct and operate schools, departments, or classes to be known as “technical institute” to educate, train and offer post high school programs and courses of not more than two years' duration, which will prepare out-of-school youth and adults for competency in sub-professional, technical, health service, business, commercial, merchandising and skilled occupations and for any other occupations for which technical training is helpful to an employer and increases students' qualifications for employment. Technical institute programs and courses shall be coordinated with those offered in area career and technical schools to ensure progressive advancement of students. Such institutes shall be organized in accordance with proposals of area career and technical boards of school directors, which are approved by the State Board of Career and Technical Education. All technical institutes shall be established, operated and in all respects conform to standards prepared by the Department of Education and adopted by the State Board of Career and Technical Education. Area career and technical schools, as approved by the State Board of Career and Technical Education, may be organized as career and technical service centers in which pupils may enroll full-time or in which pupils enrolled in academic high schools may elect to attend part-time. Technical institutes approved by the State Board of Career and Technical Education may enroll out-of-school youth and adults full-time or part-time as the students may elect.

Area career and technical school and technical institute attendance areas and standards for courses and equipment shall be in conformity with standards prepared by the Department of Education and approved by the State Board of Career and Technical Education.