Stratford CTE leaders urge investment after enrollment outstrips capacity

Stratford Public Schools CTE staff outlined program demand, outcomes and a multi-year implementation plan Tuesday, telling the Board of Education the district must invest in teacher positions, upgraded equipment and facilities to meet strong student interest.

Sasan, who presented the district's CTE report, said the district currently offers 11 of 12 state career-pathway frameworks and has wait lists for high-demand programs including culinary and the certified nursing assistant (CNA) pathway. "We want to offer dynamic courses. We want hands on experiences for our students and access to valuable community resources," Sasan told the board.

The presentation explained why local labor-market projections support expansion. Citing data sources used by the district, presenters said Stratford's top projected growth sectors include health care, professional/scientific/technical services, advanced manufacturing and construction, which help justify expanded CTE offerings tied to local employers such as Sikorsky.

Sasan walked board members through program successes and constraints. Highlights included an 85 percent CNA exam pass rate for students who take the test, repeat recognition for project-based programs (PLTW, culinary), and growth in female participation in AP Computer Science. The presentation also described community-engaged projects such as Go Baby Go and a Stratford High lab for early childhood instruction.

On needs and costs, the CTE team provided preliminary budget estimates and an implementation outline. Near-term requests included modernizing four CTE classrooms (estimated roughly $200,000 total, about $50,000 per classroom), hiring middle-school career-development staff, adding at least a 0.5'to-1.0 FTE culinary teacher to expand culinary sections, and additional CNA staffing and clinical supervision. The team proposed hiring a consultant to assess infrastructure needs (presenter estimate: $50,000) and listed second-year placeholder estimates for program start-ups such as ROTC (presenter estimate: about $150,000) and $25,000 for professional development aligned to new state frameworks.

Board members pressed on implementation choices. Member Henrick (board member) suggested some facility changes could be accomplished with capital-improvement funding rather than waiting for a full renovation, noting full building projects can take several years. Board members asked whether consolidating programs at a single site would save money; presenters said consolidation had been tried and did not solve the capacity problem because demand exists at both high schools.

Sasan described steps the department is requesting next: a prioritized implementation plan, budget requests for FY26 and beyond, and efforts to pursue additional revenue beyond declining Perkins grant funds. "Perkins funding has decreased," the presenter said, noting the district cannot rely on that alone to scale programs.

Board members thanked staff for the detailed plan and signaled support for further planning; no board action to authorize specific spending was taken at the meeting.

Ending

The CTE presentation will move into the board's budget cycle; staff said they will return with refined cost estimates and a prioritized implementation schedule during upcoming finance and curriculum committee meetings.