The proposed LaHarpe-based career and technical education center excited the most interested conversation at Iola USD 257’s school board meeting MondaY.
A handful of district personnel, including Superintendent of Schools Jack Koehn and board president Tony Leavitt, arrived at the district office fresh from an open house at the regional tech center’s selected facility. Though cautious in their discussion of the still-emerging details, both appeared to be riding high on early murmerings of public opinion.
“Since I’ve been on the board,” reflected Leavitt, “I’ve not seen anything that comes close to this as far as community interest and positive comments are concerned.
“There were a number of community members [at the open house], as well as a number of business leaders from other communities.”
In fact, joked Koehn, noting the presence of local representatives Kent Thompson and Adam Lusker and Sen. Caryn Tyson — “we were only two legislators short of a quorum.”
THE BOARD devoted extended discussion to the subject of the “embedded credits” program, a policy which would, if approved, allow future students at the tech ed center to receive, in addition to skilled technical certification, course credits in math and English.
“The embedded credit idea,” stressed Koehn, “is very critical to the whole career and tech ed center,” because without it, it will be difficult to free up enough students to attend the center.
The difference between implementing the embedded credit policy and not, explained Koehn, is the difference between three or four students attending the center versus “easily 15 or 20.” And that’s just Iola. Other districts, explained the superintendent, are in a similar boat.
As sketched — the board will bring the final policy to a vote next meeting — the embedded credit policy requires that the tech ed student meet the following requirements: 1) he or she must maintain a sufficiently high average in their chosen program; 2) must complete the embedded, “technical math” or “technical English” curriculum for that program; and 3) the student must pass the “WorkKeys Applied Mathematics” or “WorkKeys Reading” examination at a level deemed acceptable by an established standard.
ANOTHER in a series of meetings between area schools and the surrounding community colleges — the potential collaborating partners behind this entire venture — is set for Wednesday morning.
As the good news for fans of the tech center continues to spill in — e.g., Fort Scott Community College has already committed to a building trades class at the facility and Thrive Allen County has recently pledged to the center its support and grant-wise ways — Koehn’s attention is increasingly turned toward the practical details required to give heft to a project which has been for years only a long-simmering fancy.
According to the superintendent, Wednesday’s meeting is a time to: first, come up with a name; second, decide on an organizational structure “to deal with making decisions, dealing with gifts and grants, approving expenditures, things like that”; and, finally, to iron out — to the extent that it’s possible — school calendar disparities between the area high schools and the participating colleges. “Students need to be aware,” reminded Koehn, “that if our start date is here and Fort Scott’s is there, they’re going to have to go to class [on the college’s schedule].” The program will likely be a tremendous boon to the students of Iola, as well as the surrounding districts, but ultimately, continued Koehn, “this is Fort Scott’s course.”
