Students, parents and teachers urge Highlands board not to dismantle Highlands Career Institute
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Summary
Dozens of students, alumni, parents and teachers told the Highlands County School Board that proposed changes to Highlands Career Institute's delivery model and district transportation would remove access to vocational training for many students and urged the district to preserve on-site instruction and buses.
Scores of students, alumni, parents and teachers testified at a Highlands County School Board workshop against proposals that would shift Highlands Career Institute's high-school core courses back to students' home campuses and remove district transportation to the college campus.
Speakers described HCI as a small-campus, hands-on vocational program that provides industry certifications, college credits and transportation that many low-income students rely on. Students and alumni credited HCI teachers with improving attendance, grades and college- or career-readiness.
"If you remove the buses and the core classes, you're not just changing logistics. You're creating a financial and transportation barrier that will disproportionately impact working families," one speaker told the board, and several students described being unable to reach the campus without district transportation.
Superintendent Dr. Longshore said the draft plan would preserve the vocational programs at the college but would return core instruction (math, English, social studies and science) to students'home high schools as a cost-saving step; transportation for some students would become the family's responsibility in the draft. She said the vocational offerings and industry certifications would remain available at South Florida State College.
Board members and attendees discussed alternatives, including exploring partnerships with the college, surveying HCI students and parents about likely retention if the model changed, and examining facility options that might keep programs together. Board members voiced concern about losing enrollment and the possibility that students would drop out if access was removed.
The board did not vote at the workshop. Longshore said she would continue conversations with college leadership and present additional detail to the board before any final decisions.
What to watch: any staff report clarifying the transportation plan, HCI enrollment retention estimates and a board agenda item scheduling a vote.