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Frederick County educators outline plan for diesel technician program at Dowell J. Howard
Summary
Staff presented a multi-year plan and cost estimate to add a diesel technology program at Dowell J. Howard, saying employer demand and student interest are high; funding and timing remain to be decided.
Ben Thompson, Dowell J. Howard program staff, told the Frederick County Public Schools Building and Grounds Committee on Jan. 13 that a diesel technology program has been on planning documents since 2022 and the division has received strong employer and student interest.
Thompson said industry demand in the region is high and cited state projections and Bureau of Labor Statistics guidance, adding the program’s graduates could work in trucking, data centers, farming, construction and equipment maintenance. He said the state projects a large increase in need for diesel mechanics over the next decade and that local salaries for diesel mechanics average about $60,000 to $80,000, with higher pay for experienced technicians.
The proposed curriculum would be a multi-year sequence of three-hour courses that award industry-recognized credentials, Thompson said: “Every course throughout the diesel program is a 2 credit 3 hour long … and it includes the credentialing for kids that complete this course, includes but is not limited to ASC certification that is recognized industry wide.”
Thompson presented an initial project cost estimate of about $2,365,000 and said roughly $500,000 might be offset by opioid settlement funds pending further review with county officials. He said a phased funding approach would likely take two to three years to implement the facility changes and wrap construction and outfitting into the division’s capital plan.
Thompson also said student demand already exists: “We have almost 700 students that have expressed interest in some, form of the diesel program.” He warned that without additional capacity the division will continue to accept a fraction of career-technical applicants: recent applications were the highest ever, about 850, with the program able to accept only about 42% of applicants under current resources.
Committee members praised enrollment growth and suggested using unobligated funds to reduce taxpayer impact while staff investigate formal funding options. No formal funding decision was requested at the meeting; Thompson said staff would need to discuss adding the program to the CIP or identify other funding sources and bring proposals back to the board.
The presentation included suggested downstream opportunities linking diesel instruction with heavy equipment operator training and existing criminal-justice space needs at Dowell J. Howard.
Thompson said implementation would require additional planning, phasing and funding decisions before the division could commit to a construction schedule.
