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Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center tells board it serves nearly 1,000 students with career programs and industry credentials
Summary
YVTech principal Bonnie Smith described the center’s 18 career-technical programs, enrollment and credentialing outcomes. Board members toured facilities and praised internship and apprenticeship links to local employers and Yakima Valley College.
Bonnie Smith, principal of the Yakima Valley Technical Skills Center (YVTech), briefed the Yakima School District Board of Directors on May 5 about the center’s programs, enrollment and credentials.
Why it matters: YVTech provides career and technical education for juniors and seniors across the region and pays for industry-recognized credentials that can reduce barriers for students pursuing postsecondary credentials or apprenticeships.
Smith said YVTech is hosted by the Yakima School District and offers 18 advanced preparatory college and career technical programs. She reported the center has about 21 teachers and serves 974 students from 15 school districts; 38% of those students come from the Yakima School District. Programs meet for 2.5 hours a day; Smith described program-year totals as 540 hours for a single-year participant and as much as 1,080 hours for returning second-year students.
Smith said the center has increased dual/college-credit opportunities by 33% since the 2022–23 school year and that about 80% of YVTech students have earned at least one OSPI-approved industry-recognized credential. She gave examples of credential costs that the program covers so families do not shoulder them: a nursing assistant state license at $372 and electrical pre-apprenticeship certification costs “over $2,400 per student.”
Board members toured the technical classrooms and thanked staff for internship and placement efforts. A board member called YVTech’s medical assistant apprenticeship “a really great example of how responsive YVTech is to the needs of the community,” noting high local demand for allied-health workers.
YVTech leaders also said they are coordinating with Yakima Valley College to align programs so students can compete for dental hygiene and other postsecondary slots. The presentation closed with a short tour of facilities for board members.
