State leaders are considering priority capital projects as the grant pool for secondary career technical education dwindles to a final $10 million.
They want to send their money where it will do the most good and impact the most students.
Interest in expanding CTE programs through: Idaho Career Ready Students It remains solid across the state. This month, Superintendent Debbie Critchfield's office was inundated with proposals for $50 million worth of additional grants. Less than $10 million remains in the program.
ICRS has invested $45 million in Critchfield to expand workforce training opportunities. Grant recipients are selected by an 11-member committee. Industry leaders, career and technical educators, lawmakers, education leaders, and Critchfield. Three subcommittees were formed to process the numerous applications, including for existing programs, new programs, and major projects. The capital project opened on Monday.
The subcommittee voted on 33 proposals to recommend to the full committee. Subcommittee members include Clay Long, administrator of the Idaho Career and Technical Education Department; Lex Godfrey, secondary CTE instructor, Idaho career technical educator; Representing the industry is Robb Bloem of StanCraft Companies.
The committee's process includes, among other things, cost estimates, quality of the proposal, number of students affected, and analysis of the sustainability of the proposed program.
Nezperce School District's purchase of a $65,000 replacement greenhouse facility was “a scary undertaking.”
But the University of Idaho's proposal to create a $700,000 high school forestry and natural resources partnership was not accepted. We were not sure if ICRS grants could be awarded to colleges and universities because the guidelines say ICRS grants are limited to school districts. However, school districts can partner with community colleges for apprenticeships.
This collaboration will serve all school districts in Regions 1 and 2 that wish to offer a career path in forestry or logging. The facility will be built in the university's experimental forest. You can read the full proposal here. link.
“I’m not in favor,” Long said.
The board has determined the Lake Pend Oreille School District's $4.5 million Cooperative Career Technical Center has merit and will recommend it for funding. The center will serve the Lake Pend Oreille, West Bonner and Boundary County school districts. Five high schools will benefit.
Superintendent Becky Meyer “has a wealth of experience in making things like this successful,” Godfrey said.
Rural students in North Idaho must have access to career technical centers with diverse and robust programs to expand opportunities and increase the qualified workforce. Many students in North Idaho struggle to find viable options after high school, according to the proposal. To read the full offer: link.
“There is a real need here,” Meyer said in a video conference.
The Capital Projects Subcommittee's recommendations will be discussed on February 16 when the full ICRS committee meets to finalize spending decisions.
ICRS has received more grant requests than it has funds to allocate. About $35.8 million has already been allocated for 35 approved proposals over a seven-month period. A total of 150 applications were submitted, with a total expenditure request of $133. Only 34% of requests can be funded. The Ministry of Education manages the program.
The grants are intended to create or expand pathways into welding, manufacturing, machining, agriculture, forestry, mining, nursing and cybersecurity. The program encourages rural schools to tailor their programs to community and industry needs. This funding should reduce the problem of finding the resources needed to sustain high-quality career technical programming.