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USD 383 hears CTE update: new state pathway model, added visual arts and greenhouse classes
Summary
District CTE coordinator reported state-level pathway changes will reshape Career and Technical Education offerings at Manhattan High School and across USD 383, including adding visual-arts coursework, applied graphic design and increased greenhouse instruction; staff cited staffing and funding as ongoing constraints.
Crystal Warren, the district’s career and technical education coordinator, gave the board a detailed progress report on CTE programs and state-level changes that will affect course offerings for the 2025–26 school year.
Warren told the board USD 383 currently employs 15 CTE teachers and outlined a new national/state model finalized in November that reduces career clusters from 16 to 14 and organizes 72 subclusters. “We have 15 CTE teachers now,” Warren said. She described how the new model filters down through the state and local course-approval process and noted a February–March calendar for applications and approvals: “They have to be due…March first,” she said.
Why it matters: the cluster reorganization affects which classes count as pathway concentrator and completer courses, influences funding eligibility, and drives local decisions about which classes to run. Warren said the district is pursuing new pathways and course changes that would expand options for students while acknowledging limits on staffing and resources.
Key changes and local plans described by Warren
- Pathway restructuring: state-level updates merged some pathways (for example, web/digital and digital media) into combined pathways such as media design and communications; the district expects that merge to allow schools to house both programming and graphic-design courses under one pathway. - Visual arts in CTE: USD 383 plans to add an Intro to Drawing course and an Illustration course tied to the new media/design pathway. Warren said illustration will be a funded pathway course while the drawing course is planned as an unfunded intro class taught by visual-art teachers. - Applied graphic design: the district will add an applied graphic-design course taught by visual-art staff to better prepare students for media-design pathways. - Greenhouse and plant science: Warren said the district wants to expand plant-science and industry-operations offerings to use the district’s greenhouse, adding horticulture/plant-management coursework if state approval is secured. - Work-based learning and CTSO activity: Warren reported roughly 25 students per semester participate in work-based learning placements and highlighted CTSO (career and technical student organization) successes, including a Future City regional competition entry and SkillsUSA activity. She said students and teams have traveled to national events and that some local projects may be showcased at the community Museum of Art.
Staffing, funding and program limits
Warren repeatedly raised staffing and capacity as constraints on adding new pathways or courses. She said some advanced or specialized pathways—such as a biotech pathway—were not being pursued because class sizes and teacher availability make them impractical. “We’re the classes they dropped, AP bio and biomedical…rarely get to teach because the class size isn’t big enough,” she said, explaining the staffing tradeoffs.
Warren also explained how course counts translate to state reporting terms (concentrators and completers) and how the district is trying to balance offering “dabbler” experiences for many students against creating full completer sequences for others.
What the board asked and next steps
Board members asked about clarifying career options tied to pathway courses and the practicality of offering new health-science classes; Warren said the district is pursuing additional health-science offerings but staffing remains the primary hurdle. She described an application timetable for pathway approval and said the district will continue to refine schedules, staffing and course offerings in the coming months.
No board action was taken on the CTE report; it was presented for information and planning.
Ending
Warren asked the board for continued support as the district completes pathway applications and works through staffing and funding decisions. Board members thanked program staff and CTE teachers for their work bringing new offerings online.
