Howard‑Suamico board outlines career‑technical center plans after $147 million referendum

Howard‑Suamico School District leaders used a May 11 workshop to map next steps for the district’s career and technical education (CTE) expansion after voters approved two referendum questions that authorized up to $147 million in capital projects.

Superintendent (speaker 3) told board members and community partners the overall package includes roughly $64 million for Mayport High School work and about $33 million targeted to expand CTE space. District staff said the planned CTE addition will be designed for flexibility so programs can evolve with industry needs.

Micky Volk, the district’s college and career readiness coordinator, reviewed current CTE programming at Bayport High School — agriculture, business and marketing, family and consumer sciences (integrated with health careers), and technical education with engineering. Volk highlighted student organizations (DECA, FFA, SkillsUSA, a newly formed HOSA chapter), in‑house labs and capstone projects that let students move from concept to finished product. As an example, students designed and built a reading nook for a district 4K program.

District officials and external partners, including NWTC and industry representatives, urged the board to align pathways to regional labor market needs and to prioritize credentials employers recognize. David Gordon (director for career and technical education, speaker 9) recommended five pathway quality criteria: a rigorous sequence of courses, early exploration, clear advancement, dual‑credit opportunities and industry‑recognized credentials. NWTC staff (speaker 8) said the college is seeing strong demand for health‑care and advanced manufacturing pathways and encouraged program designs that lead to stackable credentials and direct employment or postsecondary continuation.

Students who spoke urged greater hands‑on time and earlier exposure to career options. Tyler Jiggi (speaker 6), a youth apprentice, described how hands‑on architecture and construction coursework, plus youth apprenticeship experience, helped him decide to pursue a four‑year architecture program. Heidi Wellstruck (speaker 2), the student representative, urged wider use of Xello career assessments and earlier middle‑school career exploration.

Staff reported recent site visits to model CTE facilities — including a university innovation center, and high schools with robust culinary, manufacturing and animal/food‑science labs — and said lessons from those visits are shaping the district’s schematic design. Administrators emphasized that the visioning and core teams will continue to meet (monthly or twice monthly) to convert broad concepts into schematic design within budget and program parameters.

The district flagged several design priorities that may affect equipment and staffing decisions: flexible open labs that can be reconfigured, networked equipment for data collection and productivity tracking, and investment in professional development so instructors can operate new technologies. District leaders also highlighted the need to consider how to recruit and train CTE instructors; several presenters suggested “grow‑your‑own” teacher pipelines and educator‑rising programs to help sustain course offerings.

The workshop was intended as an engagement session; the board did not take any final votes on facility plans. Staff said visioning teams are moving from broad options toward schematic design and that public communication updates will be shared with families, staff and the community as the work proceeds.