Career and tech education courses get funding boost

Area schools have received a boost in funding for classes focused on career and technology education.

Area 30 Career Center director Lora Busch and assistant director Chad Nunley provided a detailed report Thursday morning to the board of directors, consisting of five area superintendents, to show where the schools lost and gained funding.

"Everyone gained, but some more than others," Nunley said, referring to the overall numbers.

Busch explained the funding is based on Additional Pupil Count (APC). The money goes to each school corporation's General Fund, which is then used for career and technology education (CTE) courses at both Area 30 and the high schools.

Several of the programs got a boost in funding, with the exception of a few of the "foundational classes" losing a little bit of funding, Busch noted.

Cloverdale Superintendent Greg Linton noted his appreciation of the hard work of the Directors of College and Technology Education, of which Busch is a member. Last year, the schools feared a decrease in CTE reimbursements due to a proposed change in the funding formula.

Busch said a collaborative effort between the Directors of Career and Technology Education, Department of Workforce Development and state legislators helped to reverse the proposal to decrease funding. Furthermore, the work helped to increase CTE funding for most programs.

The superintendents granted permission to allow the president of the board at the time to sign off exit interviews on an as-needed basis.

She explained some adults and students coming from a homeschool situation do not have a relationship with an area principal or superintendent to sign the exit interviews in order to take the high school equivalency test.

She noted while there are only a handful of these instances a year, her role does not allow her the authority to do so.

Busch informed the board that plans to apply for an Office of Community and Rural Affairs (OCRA) grant have been put on hold for adult education projects. She had previously told the board of the intent to apply for the grant, but the timeline did not allow for the application to be finished in time.

For example, Busch said the grant required working with area non-profit and for-profit entities. Obtaining the needed letters did not allow enough time for the advertising requirements, so the plan is to try again next year and be better prepared for the work going into the application.

Area 30 hosted the annual scholarship fund golf scramble Sept. 26 at Clover Meadows. Busch said the event was a great success with 56 sponsors and more than 14 teams participating.

The event raised $4,300, which will assist with providing scholarships to Area 30 students.

Busch said more than 100 people attended the Putnam County Area College Fair, hosted by Area 30 Career Center.

The Sept. 21 event boasted 48 post-secondary education institutions to provide more information to students and families about the future.

The next Area 30 Board meeting is scheduled for Nov. 10 at 9 a.m.