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City to fund first-year instructor for new public-safety pathway at Warren County Area Technology Center
Summary
The commission approved a $33,817.20 contribution to fund an instructor for a Careers in Public Safety pathway at the Warren County Area Technology Center for the first year while the state review proceeds.
The Bowling Green City Commission approved a memorandum of agreement with Warren County and the Warren County Board of Education to provide $33,817.20 in initial funding for a new Careers in Public Safety pathway at the Warren County Area Technology Center (ATC).
Meredith Rozanski of the Chamber and SCK Launch described three years of planning with local law-enforcement stakeholders and said roughly 200 students expressed interest in the pathway in surveys of feeder high schools. City staff said the ATC has identified a qualified instructor—reported in the meeting as a retired Bowling Green Police Department officer—and that the funding requested covers the first-year instructor salary as a stop-gap because the state had not yet approved recurring funding in time to start the program this school year.
City Manager Jeff Meisel said the city would split the first year’s cost with Warren County and that city funding would come from job-development-type funds (referenced in the meeting as JDIP). Commissioners expressed support for the program as a way to build a local workforce pipeline into public safety careers and to provide credentials such as Stop the Bleed and basic life support.
The motion was moved by Commissioner Perrigan, seconded by Commissioner Hill and approved on a roll-call vote with Commissioners Hill, Perrigan, Bailey and Mayor Pro Tem Dana Beasley Brown voting yes.
Why this matters: supporters said a local career pathway could feed local public safety agencies and give students industry-recognized credentials that are immediately useful in emergencies and future careers.
Speakers quoted in this article spoke during the ATC agenda item; direct quotes and program details are drawn from remarks by Meredith Rozanski and city staff recorded in the meeting transcript.
