Vocational education has been a topic of discussion at the last several board meetings and in the community for probably longer than that. College education is important, and we as the Houston R-1 District need to be preparing our students to enter that postsecondary avenue. However, not all our students will choose that route after high school, nor should they. We do a disservice to our students and our community in thinking that all students should be college ready and not providing appropriate vocational training for postsecondary vocational training or immediate entrance in to the work force. What I am hearing from the community is that we need more health workers, more auto mechanics, more shop skills, and other skills not currently provided.
We have some excellent programs already. Houston offers vocational courses in business, FACS (Family and Consumer Sciences), agriculture and building trades. These programs should continue to be supported and strengthened. However, we also have a great need for training in health sciences, auto mechanics, auto body, creative computer design, culinary arts and more. While we cannot support all of these needs within the Houston district alone, we are looking at ways to do some of this training locally. Keep in mind that adding even one program involves expense. To add one beginning teacher amounts to approximately $40,000 in expense per year for the Houston School District. This increases with experience of the teacher. This also does not include equipment, materials, space and other expenses to begin a program. Therefore it is also not just a question of “Can we fill these classes?” but can we afford to offer all of these?
To that end, I have also looked at the three nearest area vocational schools. Rolla, Mountain Grove and West Plains. All of these locations have good programs, with some variation due to demand and size of the school. There is a difference in travel time: West Plains 51 miles, Rolla 47.8 miles and Mountain Grove 27 miles. The main difference, however, is cost. Tuition for the three schools are as follows: West Plains $1,780, Rolla $2,915, and Mountain Grove $1,750. In addition, both Mountain Grove and Rolla require us to join their consortium which means we would turn over our federal Perkins money amounting to $19,000-$22,000 per year. West Plains will allow us to send students only by paying tuition. Therefore, the expected cost of sending 20 students to West Plains would be around $45,000 for tuition and transportation. This option gives us more flexibility as well as savings of the $20,000 in Perkins money already utilized by our existing vocational programs. If we send students and the program is not appealing, we are not bound to continue the following year. Further, while courses in Welding and Building Trades are offered at these schools, we have solid programs here with equipment that makes it appealing to keep our existing programs here and only send students for programs we are not able to offer at this time.
Another question that comes up is what will students lose by having to travel for almost two hours a day? Currently, Lutie, Winona and Summersville all send students to West Plains and have a similar length of drive time for students. How do students get their required credits? There is no doubt the drive is long, however schools sending students, such as Houston, are allowed to determine how much credit is given for attending a vocational school. Most award 2-3 credits with at least one school granting 3 and a half credits per year. Vocational schools also offer an imbedded one-half credit for English or math based on the rigor and curriculum offered within their vocational program.
This is not necessarily the final answer. The City of Houston, local business leaders, the Houston School District and area community members are all working at seeing what resources are available, or can be made available to promote training right here in Houston. However, in the meantime, this is too important to put off another one-three years waiting to see what can be done. Eligible sophomores and juniors took a trip Friday, April 28, to tour the SCCC campus in West Plains. Students and two board members were able to see the programs, labs and facilities offered. Sending students to West Plains for the 2017-2018 school year will be a proposal to the board on May 9.
Another possible change being considered for next year includes dropping speech as a credit requirement for graduation. Few schools now require this as credit for graduation. Further, the Missouri Learning Standards incorporate speech criteria into the current ELA standards. This along with adding drama/speech as an after-school program are hoped to give some additional boost to the program. This would also free up at least some space for students wanting to pursue vocational training or another path. Students who have already taken speech would have that credit applied as an elective. This would not change the total number of credits needed to graduate.
Finally, please don’t forget the Give Ozarks Day on May 9 in which the Houston Education Foundation is raising money to purchase Chromebooks for the Houston sixth grade class. Checkout the website https://giveozarks.org/2017/houstonr1foundation.