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Board seeks to coordinate career and technical education; agrees to form career‑readiness committee with chamber and CTE partners
Summary
Superintendent Bergens told the board that expanding career and technical education will help students connect coursework to job pathways and strengthen engagement; trustees directed staff to form a career‑readiness committee with the chamber, CTE partners and local industry.
The Lakeside Union School District board on Monday discussed next steps to expand career and technical education (CTE) and vocational pathways after Superintendent Bergens reviewed a resolution passed earlier in the year endorsing greater emphasis on career education.
Bergens recapped a recent CTE tour of El Capitan and Santana high schools, noting programs in agriculture, culinary arts, auto repair, welding/fabrication, digital marketing and other pathways. He described a roughly $300,000 Strong Workforce/partnership grant the district has used over the last three years to pay for equipment, Project Lead The Way courses, field trips and robotics programming.
"Enhancing career exploration and readiness programs will strengthen student engagement," Bergens said, adding that parents across the district have asked for expanded career awareness and preparation.
Board members supported moving from planning to action. Trustees asked administrators to take an inventory of current offerings and bring stakeholders into a career‑readiness committee that would include the Lakeside Chamber of Commerce, Grossmont College CTE partners and local industry representatives such as the Associated General Contractors and trade unions. Trustees emphasized including both pathways that lead directly to employment after high school (construction trades, welding, plumbing, electrical) and classes that articulate to college programs.
Proposed committee work and grant writing would aim to produce a cohesive, districtwide program of electives, career‑interest inventory courses at middle school, career fairs, job shadowing and apprenticeship connections. Bergens and trustees said the committee should identify a recommended course list and funding priorities to include in future grant applications.
Board members asked administrators to begin stakeholder outreach, schedule committee meetings and return with a draft plan and recommended grant priorities for board consideration.
