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Tulare school district outlines student support expansions, CTE and multi‑year facilities plan
Summary
Tulare Joint Union High School District told city and college leaders that it has added social workers and community school coordinators through a federal community‑schools grant, highlighted growing CTE programs and detailed a bond‑funded multi‑year facilities plan including pools, gym HVAC and a planned Union baseball/soccer complex.
Vice Mayor opened a joint meeting of the City of Tulare, the Tulare Joint Union High School District and the College of the Sequoias where district officials described recent investments in student supports, career‑technical education and facility upgrades.
Superintendent Lucy Vanzag told the assembled council and trustees that the district serves eight schools and enrolled 5,652 students this year, gaining 54 students after three years of decline. She said the district’s priorities include academic success, school safety, facility management and fiscal integrity.
Gretchen Venderike, the district’s executive director for special education and support services, detailed work funded by a five‑year community schools implementation grant. “We added six school social workers” and four community school coordinators, she said, and described a referral system that recorded 266 referrals this year for needs ranging from clothing and hygiene to housing navigation.
Vanzag and Venderike emphasized career pathways across the district: cohort academies in marketing, arts and media, pre‑medicine, engineering and protective services; 23 CTE pathways districtwide; and partnerships with the College of the Sequoias for electrician and other trade programs. Vanzag said the district ensures students can take career pathways across campuses so ‘‘if there’s a pathway at Tulare Union, kids from Tulare Western and Mission Oak can partake.’’
On facilities, the district laid out a long list of planned and in‑progress projects funded by a recently passed bond and interim gap financing. Projects include pool and gym renovations, HVAC installation in older gyms, expansion of CTE shops (construction and auto), a planned Union Baseball/Soccer Complex (targeting fall 2027 start), a Mission Oak track (2028) and livestock barns at the agriculture complex (2029). Vanzag said the district told voters it would not draw on the bond until 2028 and is using interim gap funding in the meantime.
The district also highlighted performance metrics: a reported graduation rate increase from about 71% (2009–10) to 97.3% (2024–25), a 95% high‑school attendance rate and roughly half of graduates meeting the district’s stated definition of “college ready.”
Council members and trustees discussed shared needs including joint‑use athletic facilities, siting constraints for a Union baseball field and potential city‑district collaboration on future sports‑park siting and funding. The meeting concluded with leaders asking staff to pursue follow‑up conversations on shared projects and scheduling regular annual joint meetings.
The district presentation does not include formal votes or policy changes; next procedural steps are follow‑up staff conversations and planning work on the listed capital projects.
