CTE Appeal User Guide

Introduction

Indiana Code 20-43-8-10 allows for a school corporation to appeal the categorization of any Career and Technical Education (CTE) course deemed ‘moderate value’ or ‘less than moderate value.’  

If a school corporation determines that the category for which a CTE course is placed, based on statewide demand, is not representative of the demand in the region surrounding the school corporation, the school corporation may petition the department of Workforce Development to re-categorize for the school corporation any CTE program, according to the employment demand in the region surrounding the school corporation.  

The petition must include information supporting the school corporation’s determination that the categories created under IC 22-4.1-4.9 are not representative of the employment demand in the region surrounding the school corporation.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION BY SUPERINTENDENTS:

May 15, 2025

CTE directors have editor access and enter and upload the appropriate appeals information.  Once they have completed that, the Superintendent(s) are then notified via email from the system (ibrctech@iu.edu) to log in, review, and officially submit.

Accessing Gateway and the CTE Appeals

There is now an application in Gateway specific to the CTE Funding Appeals process, to allow school corporations to indicate which courses they are appealing and to upload their documentation.

Gateway is a web-based platform. You will need authorized access to Gateway. All public school corporations superintendents and treasurers should already have access to Gateway for submitting to DLGF, SBOA and IEERB.   There is now a new app on Gateway for submitting your CTE appeals - the DWD CTE app.  

Roles and Permissions

The CTE app relies on roles and permissions to ensure the appropriate, authorized persons are submitting the appeal(s). The Superintendent is the defined Submitter and therefore, is the only person who will see the  Submit button on screen. 

An editor (generally the CTE director) is authorized to enter the courses to be appealed and upload the appropriate information. Once the editor is finished, they can click the "OK" box.  This will send an email to the Submitter, who then logs in, reviews the appeal, and can then click the submit button.  The Superintendent is the official responsible for submitting the appeal.

If for any reason the Submitter does not agree with the appeals, they will need to reach out to the CTE director to discuss any changes that need to be made.

Using the Application

Once you have logged in and selected the app, select the appropriate/latest year.  

Next, you will see your school corporation(s) or unit list.  You will need to click either YES (the list is correct) or NO. 

If the list in NOT correct, check no and then email gateway@dwd.in.gov to ask them to assign the correct unit(s) - please be specific about which school corporation(s) need to be assigned. 

New for 2021 is a main page. This will change once you begin entering and saving appeals.  This new method also allows for adding appeals for multiple school corporations.

• From here you start your process by clicking Add an Appeal - see the button below the listing box. 
• Click on Add New Appeal(s) to begin.
• This is where you will also either (as an editor) alert the Superintendent(s) that the appeals are ready for their review and submission. Only the Superintendent has authorization to SUBMIT.

Once you click on the Add New Appeal, you will see the following screen. 

• From here, choose the School Corporations (some CTE offices handle multiple corps) and the courses. 
• New this year:  you can select multiple courses - just hold down the CTRL key and select. 
• Once you have selected the course or courses, then type in the Basis of the appeal and upload any supporting documents. 
• SAVE SET:  click that button once you have made the appropriate selections for the specific appeal.  You will be returned to the main page and can then click ADD APPEAL to create a new appeal SET.

EDITORS: After each Appeal Set, when you click the SAVE SET button, you will return to the main page.  From there you can either continue to ADD APPEAL and continue that process.  Once you have all of your courses/corporation SETS saved, you can then move on to the READY TO REVIEW button on the main page.  This will then trigger an email to the Submitter (superintendent).

SUBMITTER (school superintendent):  once you have reviewed the courses being appealed and the documents and are satisfied, you can click the SUBMIT button. 

That will then complete the process - DWD is notified via email when you click that button.

Uploading Documents

Simply click on the Choose File button when you are ready to upload your supporting document - if you have more than one file, please "zip" them on your local machine and then upload the .zip file.

Frequently Asked Questions

 1. As a CTE director, I enter the appeals for several sending schools.  Is the funding model run for the region where the CTE Career Center sits or for the sending schools?

Answer:  Regional demand will be run based upon the region surrounding the appealing school corporation because the additional funds, if awarded, are sent to the sending schools, not the CTE Career Center. 

2. As a CTE director, I enter the information for the appeal - why can't I submit it, as well?

Answer:  Only the Superintendent can officially submit the appeal, which is why after you (as editor) complete the appeal, an email is sent to the Superintendent notifying them it is ready for review and then official submission.  

3. Can a school district appeal introductory courses?

Answer:  No.  Only courses with a state-wide categorization of ‘moderate value’ or ‘less than moderate value’ can be appealed. 

4. Why are we utilizing Gateway?  I’m unfamiliar with it.

Answer:  School corporations already utilize Gateway for several reports.  All Superintendents and corporation treasurers have Gateway accounts and are familiar with the system.  This system also allows for digital signatures.   

5. If I spot a mistake in the Appeals Set, can I edit?

You will need to delete that set and create a new one. If you wrote a lengthy explanation in the Basis box, you can copy that from the main page by clicking on Basis.  Then click Add Appeal and select the schoool(s) course(s) again, paste in the language from the previous one, and re-upload your documentation.  Be sure to "delete" erroneous appeal set, again from the main page.

Contacts via Email

Questions about the appeals process:    gateway@dwd.in.gov

Technical problems using the app: ibrctech@iu.edu