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Central Union High shifts CTE scheduling to boost pathway completion for juniors
Summary
Superintendent Dr. Farkas outlined changes to Career and Technical Education (CTE) scheduling and outreach to increase pathway completion rates, especially for underrepresented student subgroups, and to align with Local Control Accountability Plan goals and state dashboard metrics.
Superintendent Dr. Farkas told the Central Union High School District board on May 13 that the district will change how it schedules and markets Career and Technical Education (CTE) pathways to increase completion rates and broaden access for student subgroups.
The superintendent said the district will prioritize getting eleventh-graders into concentrator courses so they can complete the capstone as seniors, a move aimed at improving the state “dashboard” metrics and meeting LCAP goals. “The pathway courses that I've just spoken, spoken about are not electives,” Dr. Farkas said, noting many CTE courses count toward A–G requirements.
The changes are intended to boost participation among English learners, students with disabilities and other groups that currently show lower pathway-completion rates on the state dashboard. Farkas described the work as a district-driven adjustment — not a state mandate — and said the goal is inclusion and exposing more students to hands-on career learning. He said the district is focusing on organizing logistics and communications so counselors and school staff can place students efficiently and avoid partially filled classes.
Trustee Tavares pressed for clarity about whether students would be forced into pathways. “Are you just gonna force them to a pathway?” she asked. Dr. Farkas replied that participation will be encouraged, not forced, and that the district is trying to make sure students who want to continue a pathway can do so when space allows.
Farkas also discussed staffing and facilities constraints. He noted some CTE instructors are recruited from industry and that facilities and funding limit how quickly pathways can expand. He said some pathways (for example, the Ag FFA diploma) remain multiyear programs and will not be disrupted by the scheduling changes.
The presentation described the target population as roughly “over a thousand” seniors across the district’s comprehensive sites and emphasized that the district will aim to get more eleventh-graders into concentrator courses next year so they reach completer status as seniors. Implementation details, including counselor coordination and seat management at the start of the school year, remain a work in progress.
The board did not take a formal vote on CTE changes at the meeting; Dr. Farkas closed by inviting continued discussion and clarified the plan is to finalize logistics before next school year.
