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Beaver County joins Oklahoma CareerTech; High Plains Tech Center launches TAP in local schools
Summary
High Plains Technology Center superintendent Barclay Holt told the Oklahoma CareerTech board that Beaver County joined the Oklahoma Career‑and‑Technology system this year and launched TAP middle‑school programs in four schools, enrolling about 300 students and planning health and construction/welding programs.
Barclay Holt, superintendent at High Plains Technology Center, told the Oklahoma CareerTech State Board that Beaver County has become part of the state CareerTech system and that the center has stood up a middle‑school TAP (technical and apprenticeship pathway) program across the county.
Holt said the district moved quickly after the board and local communities voted to participate: "If you vote this in, we will stand TAP programs up at every school. And we did that that that vote. By July, by August, we had kids in TAP." He told board members the initial launch put about 300 students into TAP across four schools and that the program remains at roughly that enrollment.
The program is organized to begin career exploration in middle school and feed into high‑school and postsecondary CareerTech pathways. Holt said the model brings students into high‑school programs already familiar with basic skills and occupational choices, which in turn raises certification success on postsecondary licensure exams: "for the last 3 years. Our LPN program has been a 100% on NCLEX pass rate."
Holt described local tactics used to make the model feasible in a sparsely populated county. Because Beaver County did not have a tax base large enough to stand up a standalone technology center, High Plains used existing space inside local schools and shared transportation. He said the district recruited a local director, Donna Nickel, and hired faculty to run TAP and planned a rural health program (phlebotomy, vet tech and similar skills) and a combined construction/welding program to begin next July.
Board member Randy Gilbert praised the approach and thanked Holt and High Plains staff for the work to integrate Beaver County. Director Hagan (agency director) also described the move as an “out‑of‑the‑box” example of agency flexibility that can extend services to counties with limited tax capacity.
Clarifying details discussed at the meeting included the initial TAP enrollment (about 300 students), the program footprint (four Beaver County schools using existing school space), and High Plains’ local millage levels (described by Holt as 10 mills general and 2 mills building for High Plains). The presentation emphasized that CareerTech’s role is one piece of a larger workforce strategy, not a standalone solution for all local workforce problems.
Board members asked about community buy‑in and transportation; Holt said using existing bus routes increased utilization and local acceptance. He invited board members to review a timeline handout describing how the county joined the Tech Center and how the TAP rollout proceeded.
The presentation was informational; no formal board action was recorded on this agenda item.
