Chesterfield County officials outline CTE expansion and surge in work-based learning

Chesterfield County Public Schools leaders gave a briefing to a county board meeting on the district’s career and technical education programs, planned expansion of the Hull Street technical center and results from the district’s work-based learning efforts.

The presentation said roughly 27,000 Chesterfield students in grades 6–12 — about 43% of that population — participate in CTE-related courses, and the system expects more than 9,200 industry-recognized certifications this year. Chad Macklin, director of CTE and director of Chesterfield County Public Schools Online, told the board the tech center campuses are oversubscribed and an expansion is intended to add capacity and new industry labs.

Why this matters: School officials said the programs connect students to local employers, increase on‑ramps into the workforce and produce measurable economic returns. Katie Stokes, coordinator of work-based learning, told the board the district tracked 31,585 student work-based learning experiences this year, and that business partnerships have grown from about 107 partners five years ago to roughly 545 today.

Macklin summarized the scale and the need for expansion. He said the district runs about 30 year‑one and year‑two programs at the tech center and received about 3,600 program applications from 2,200 students while the center has roughly 1,300 seats in current configurations, leaving demand well above supply. He said the district’s two tech‑center campuses will serve about 2,500 students combined after expansion — roughly 1,200 at Hull Street and 1,300 at Courthouse — with the Hull Street addition adding about 650 seats.

The planned Hull Street expansion will include two energy labs (one focused on renewable generation such as solar and wind, and one on transmission and distribution), a health sciences suite designed to simulate an emergency room and clinical settings, an expanded information‑technology area (networking, cybersecurity and programming), finance and bookkeeping classrooms, a hospitality program and a media production suite focused on technical production. Macklin said the district is coordinating those plans with community partners including Brightpoint, Virginia State University and Dominion Energy.

Katie Stokes described the district’s work‑based learning continuum and how it maps to state accountability. She said the state now measures employment, enlistment and enrollment (the “3 E” framework) for accreditation and that Chesterfield reports internships, clinical experiences, school‑based enterprises and apprenticeships under that rubric. Stokes said the district recorded 801 internships last year (defined as more than 40 hours in a workplace), 167 clinical experiences and 891 school‑based enterprise experiences. She said clinical placements accounted for more than 15,000 hours of employer mentoring.

Stokes emphasized the variety of employer roles used in classroom outreach — not only technical staff but also human resources and other job functions — and described examples where employers converted job shadows or internships into paid work or higher education support. “Kids can’t be what they can’t see,” Stokes said, describing the intent behind guest speakers, workplace tours and internships.

Officials reported high persistence and positive outcomes among CTE participants. Macklin said students who complete two or more CTE classes have a four‑year CTE graduation rate of 99.85%. The presentation said 94–95% of respondents reported being satisfied or extremely satisfied with their preparedness a year after graduation, and 97% of CTE students were counted as in a positive transition (employment, education or military) one year after graduation. About 82% of students who took two or more CTE classes were still in the same field of study or employment a year later, the presentation said.

Business engagement figures were highlighted as part of the program’s local economic impact. Stokes told the board that over five years, the district’s employer connections have produced about $14,100,000 in local economic impact through student employment and retention. She also said the district runs an annual job fair for graduating seniors; employers invited to that fair are asked to bring at least one full‑time job offer they would be willing to make on the spot.

The presentation named several community and higher‑education partners used for dual enrollment and training pathways, including Brightpoint (dual enrollment partner), Blue Ridge Community College (veterinary science example), Dominion Energy (industry partner), Reynolds and Virginia State University. Macklin also referenced historical context for CTE going back to the Smith–Hughes Act of 1918 when describing the evolution of CTE fields.

No formal motion or vote on the expansion or program changes was recorded during the briefing. Board members had a brief question about a slide graphic during the presentation; staff responded and continued with the update.

Officials said next steps include continuing design work for the Hull Street expansion, aligning curricula to the updated cluster structure the district plans to adopt and sustaining or growing employer partnerships to support internships, clinical placements and school‑based enterprise opportunities.