Public commenter urges stronger career and trade pathways; board says it will continue work

A community member told the Ferguson-Florissant School District Board of Education that the district needs stronger career and technical education (CTE) and employer partnerships to support students who want trade careers instead of college.

During the public comment period, Doug Jackson described his own son's experience seeking carpentry opportunities and said counselors steered students toward college. Jackson said the district sends relatively few students to trade programs compared with college-path students and urged the board to build relationships with area companies, expand meaningful hands-on training, and break the cultural bias toward college-for-all messaging.

Board members thanked Jackson for his advocacy and administration indicated the district is aware of CTE needs. The record shows no formal motion or vote on CTE program expansion at this meeting; the topic was raised as public comment for the board and administration to consider in ongoing planning.

Discussion-only items included anecdotes about classroom experiences and placement rates for students in trade programs. Directional items were limited to board acknowledgement and staff follow-up; no decisions or funding commitments were recorded at the meeting.