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District outlines five-year plan to expand career and technical education and reduce wait lists
Summary
Kevin Nader, chief of career and technical education operations, presented a five-year vision to increase CTE enrollment through capacity changes, curriculum 'on-ramps/off-ramps', one‑year connected programs and pre-apprenticeship pilots while noting space, staffing and start-up costs as constraints.
Kevin Nader, the district’s chief of career and technical education operations, opened a work‑study presentation describing current CTE operations and a five‑year strategy to serve more students across North Tech, South Tech and the district’s adult-education offerings.
Nader said the district uses an area career center model to centralize specialized programs for students from sending schools and highlighted capacity and wait-list data (handouts covering 2022–2025). He told the board both North Tech and South Tech have roughly the same full capacity — about 900 to 915 students per building — but South Tech’s applicant pool is currently much larger.
The presentation identified five constraints the district must weigh when adding or expanding programs: physical space, demonstrable industry need, student interest, qualified faculty and startup costs. Those constraints informed several proposed strategies: realigning curricula to create on-ramps and off-ramps, piloting one‑year connected programs, expanding morning/afternoon senior options, relocating space-intensive programs (for example, moving a vet-tech program into the main building), and piloting a pre-apprenticeship for workforce‑bound seniors.
Nader highlighted specific program areas where demand exceeds capacity: cosmetology, automotive technology, welding, health sciences and firefighting/EMT. He described operational adaptations already in use — for example, converting an unused classroom at North Tech into an additional morning EMT section to serve students on the wait list.
Staff emphasized alternatives to starting duplicate full programs: expand sections where safe and appropriate, adjust program scheduling (senior afternoon slots), offer shorter certificate-oriented courses where possible, and partner with external organizations for off-site programming (examples discussed included hospital partners for health pathways). The presentation identified potential external funding from WIOA to support pre-apprenticeship elements.
Board members suggested evening classes and certification pathways to reduce wait lists. Staff said many proposals are in early or pilot stages and will be vetted through the district’s comprehensive local needs assessment and regular curriculum-revision cycle; no final program approvals were taken during the meeting.
The meeting closed after a motion to adjourn.
