BRUNSWICK — Despite efforts by staff to find money to keep Region 10 Technical High School’s general trades program running full-time next year, the school’s cooperative board voted this week to cut the program to part-time.
The board voted 4-0 with member Alison Hawkes abstaining.
R10’s General Trades Employability Skills Program is designed to teach students entry-level employment skills or to ready them for placement in another R10 Tech program.
The General Trades Employability Skills Program is a multi-year training program designed to prepare students for entry-level employment or placement in another R10 Tech program. Students can learn about food service and safety, groundskeeping and automotive reconditioning, among other skills.
Under the proposed 2019-20 budget, the program will be cut to part-time — meaning there would only be a morning or afternoon class instead of both. This year, there are 10 students in the morning class and only three in the afternoon class. Superintendent Nancy Weed said the low enrollment and an unexpected $115,000 loss in state subsidy for next school year led to the proposed cuts.
“We have trouble getting students to fill the program, quite honestly,” Weed said at the board’s March 25 meeting.
The cooperative board tentatively approved the more than $2.6 million budget March 25. At the time, board members asked Weed to find another $34,000 that could keep the general trades program running full time.
Weed said Wednesday she’d met Jason Darling, president of the Region 10 Teachers Association, to find savings.
“They came up with around $14,000 that they felt they could take out of their program lines,” she said.
However about $8,000 of that money is for continuing education credits and uniform money, Weed said, which is contractual. Other savings came from cuts on supplies and books.
Tracey Peck-Moad told members of Cooperative Board March 25 that the school’s general trades program helped her son gain the skills needed to get a job beyond high school and function as an adult.
“And if you only offer it in the morning, you are limiting his ability to also get a high school diploma,” she argued. “It’s very difficult to schedule all the courses they need to graduate, in addition to what they need to be here when they need to be here, and having that flexibility is essential.”
Weed said she is confident the school can accommodate the students wishing to take general trades next year. Most students participating in general trades receive special education services, and have some added flexibility over traditional students, Weed said.
If enrollment grows, Weed said the program could increase back to full-time.
Weed said currently 52 percent of Region 10 students receive special education services. She’s proposed adding a fulltime instructional strategist to work with staff on working with special education students and following specialized plans developed for the students. This position, as well as a freshman foundation technology class, were also nixed from the budget.
Weed couldn’t say why enrollment is down in general trades, but believes it has to do with the additional programs the sending schools now have as the number of students requiring special education services grows.
“I think our traditional schools are creating more programs in their schools and using more resources that 10 or 15 years ago they didn’t have,” Weed said.
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