Garden City reports expanding dual-credit and CTE participation; leaders point to college partnerships

Garden City school leaders told the board that dual-credit and career-technical (CTE) programs at Garden City High School are continuing to grow, supported by local partnership with Garden City Community College and state/federal funding sources.

Whitney Linenberger, lead associate principal and site coordinator for dual credit, summarized fall enrollment and course offerings. She reported in the meeting record that the fall semester includes "13 43 college credit hours in total" (phrase as spoken in the record), 16 concurrent classes offered on campus, and 58 distinct courses taken. Linenberger said the district is projecting enrollments (speaker phrasing used) and estimated that roughly "1 in 4 is taking some kind of dual credit class," which she called "pretty awesome." She described funding sources including Carl Perkins and scholarship buckets that can waive tuition and fees for students who qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

Board members praised the college partnership and discussed further steps to make dual-credit more accessible, including scheduling and targeted outreach for students on IEPs or identified as ESL. Linenberger said staff are working to streamline enrollment processes and to create master-schedule changes that will sustain access over time.

Board members did not vote on program changes; they directed continued collaboration with Garden City Community College and noted future curriculum-council items would appear on board agendas.