High school students will soon have more options for college coursework and industry experience.
Starting in the spring, students will have opportunities to take AP courses, dual-credit online courses, college career and technical education classes, or attend Peaslee Tech courses during school hours, the School Board was told at Thursday night’s meeting.
The school already has multiple CTE pathways, but many do not give students credentials, Superintendent Stu Moeckel said. The district also offers in-person college concurrent credit through Johnson County Community College. Those classes are taught by high school staff.
With more college CTE courses, students can contribute to their associate’s degree or other industry credentials. By giving students access to AP courses, they can also start receiving college credit, he said. There will be opportunities for students to have apprenticeships through Peaslee Tech.
The online dual-credit classes will be college classes taken online through a number of universities, with students receiving high school credit for them as well. There will be offerings from Allen Community College, Emporia State and Baker University.
The district wants to give students more opportunities to leave high school with a diploma and another skillset to enter the job market, whether that’s automotive or CNA certifications or college credits to transfer.
“Again, we offer some of these, but if we want to say, “Students, this will help you,” we have to be able to offer more,” Moeckel said.
He also thinks the district needs to take a more systemic approach to getting students more involved with work-based learning. Although some students do this for an hour, there needs to be more opportunity for them to stay in the field for more time of their day, he said. He gave an example of CNA certified students spending some of their school day working at an area nursing home.
“We have programs that have done that. But are we doing it and offering it to all students? Do they have that option to do that?” Moeckel said.
Moeckel said since this information may be new to a lot of parents and families, the district needs to make sure they provide understandable context behind all these new options.
As the semesters go on, the plan is to continue to expand offerings, he said. More classes and opportunities will be added as they become available.
Moeckel said the new Cardinal U will tie in with the district’s strategic plan of being able to provide specialized learning plans for all students.
Moeckel said he is also working on figuring out ways to decrease the number of barriers to students participating in these programs and having to pay for college courses. He and Shanda Hurla, executive director of Eudora Schools Foundation, have been discussing ways to gather money to help students fund these opportunities.
Board member Claire Harding agreed the board does not want to create different levels of student opportunity and looks forward to seeing how the district can level the playing field.
“I just wanted to highlight the fact that you’re bringing up equity issues,” she said. “Thank you for that.”
Board member Heather Whalen asked how this would affect counseling staff and if these new offerings would bring more work to their plates.
Moeckel said he hopes to make this a conversation between not only counselors but building administrators and teachers to make sure everyone has the same messages. He said this document providing understanding of the programs and offerings will be shared throughout all areas.
Whalen also said she hoped this information was shared with students in a way that makes them feel like it’s okay to not know what they want to do, and finding what they do not want to do is also powerful.
“Kids feel so much pressure to know right now, and when we were in high school it was a lot of exploratory, so I love this idea of we’re offering them so many more options to explore,” she said. “But I hope they understand this is exploring, not making a decision for your lifelong career path.”
For a more complete breakdown of what classes will be offered from what schools, click this drafted document.
In other business, Moeckel shared some recent photos of construction updates as some bond projects are done:
The board also received an update on the transportation department. Director Machaela Beshears shared that after the board approved the purchase of new Ford Escapes, three of them came just in time for school starting. They’ve been used twice daily for students in the special education department.
They also got a new transit van bringing the total number of vans to four. The new design leaves more space in the back, which has helped provide space for sports equipment when teams use the vans.
The department also received its yearly inspections and was told it was the most organized district for the fleet.
In other business, the district will send out its staff engagement survey in October. This is earlier than usual because Moeckel hopes to receive more feedback to make changes in November and at the end of the school year.
The board also approved the previously discussed strategic plan after a draft was presented at the last meeting.
Some of the initiatives included in the plan are:
Expand opportunities for career exploration, work-based learning, industry-recognized credentialing and college coursework obtainment.
Increase internships, work-based learning and job placement opportunities through employer partnerships.
Involve families in understanding and supporting their child’s strengths and needs through individual plans of study, partnerships and conferences
Increase participation in co-curricular activities
Expand opportunities for students to take on leadership roles within the school community
Develop and maintain comprehensive individual plans of study profiles for each student that highlight their strengths, interests and areas needing support
Enhance practices to publicly recognize students for their achievements, contributions and growth.
The board also approved the 2024-25 budget and revenue neutral rate after holding a public hearing for each. No residents spoke at either hearing.
There was no change in the mill levy, but the district did exceed the revenue neutral rate and said keeping neutral would have resulted in a difference that would leave the district short on resources. The mill rate is 69.202.
Reach reporter Sara Maloney at [email protected]
To donate to support our community journalism, please go to this link: tinyurl.com/y4u7stxj
