West Bend committee proposes CTE prerequisite, scheduling and college-credit changes

The West Bend School District Curriculum Committee on Sept. 30 reviewed a package of proposed changes to career and technical education intended to strengthen college-credit alignment and stabilize enrollment in advanced offerings.

CTE presenter Tim Harder told the committee the package includes adding prerequisites for advanced courses, alternating two capstone offerings every other year beginning in the 2026–27 school year, bringing a Moraine Park Technical College (Moraine Park) "college 101" course into the high school schedule, moving a year‑long Moraine Park entrepreneurial course to a semester format (renamed TC Business Strategies) while preserving the three Moraine Park college credits, and updating the district's ProStart culinary curriculum to the newly released third edition at an estimated cost of just over $8,000.

Why it matters: the proposals affect students seeking dual enrollment or technical-college credits, how lab- and space-intensive classes are scheduled, and the district budget lines that support CTE resources.

Harder said the district frequently sends students to Moraine Park and has been working to align names and content so high-school courses transfer smoothly. "Many of our students that go on to post secondary in the technical college realm end up going to Moraine Park Technical College, either here in West Bend, Beaver Dam, or the Fond du Lac campus," he said. To make the Moraine Park college 101 more accessible, Harder described importing the Moraine Park learning-management content into a local section taught by a district teacher rather than relying solely on Start College Now virtual sections.

Key proposed changes - Prerequisites: Add a basic metals course (or concurrent enrollment) as a prerequisite for Welding 2 and require foundational graphics or photo/video/animation coursework before Yearbook entry so students are better prepared for advanced coursework and associated technical‑college credits. - Capstone scheduling: Alternate the two senior capstone offerings (Engineering Design and Development, known to staff as EDD, and TC Automation) every other year starting 2026–27 to avoid years when neither course can run because of low enrollment or competing lab/staffing constraints. - Moraine Park alignment and credits: Add a semester‑length high‑school course equivalent to Moraine Park’s college 101 that will award 0.5 high‑school elective credit and, at Moraine Park's conversion rate cited by staff, equate to starting Moraine Park credit (Harder said the semester course would equate to 2 Moraine Park credits in that system). The district also proposes converting a year‑long TC entrepreneurial strategies course into a semester course titled TC Business Strategies while preserving 3 college credits. - Culinary/ProStart update: Adopt the third edition of the ProStart curriculum and textbooks to maintain alignment with Moraine Park and national industry certification; staff estimated the textbook/classroom set update would cost a little over $8,000 to be funded from the district’s CTE curriculum budget (Fund 10) and CTE incentive funds. - Personal finance timing: as part of broader pathway adjustments, staff proposed moving the personal finance course to grades 11–12 for the class of 2030 cohort so students encounter the content later in high school when they show higher readiness; the content would not change.

Staff emphasized implementation details: the Moraine Park import will reuse Moraine Park's learning management content where applicable and allow the district to offer sections face-to-face, hybrid or virtual with a local teacher managing blocked access issues and student support. Harder said the every-other-year capstone schedule reflects past enrollment patterns; the district did not specify projected enrollment numbers for any single course in this presentation.

Next steps: Committee members were shown a summary and staff said each item would return to the full school board for discussion and separate approval at a subsequent board meeting. No formal committee vote or final board action occurred at the Sept. 30 meeting.