KHSD board supports technical education plan
| Tuesday, Feb 03 2009 01:42 AM
Last Updated Friday, Mar 27 2009 01:26 PM
The Kern High School District board of trustees voted in favor of the career technical education graduation requirement changes that will first impact the class of 2013.
Despite public requests for delay, four members of the board voted to proceed with the plan, which will give students the option of following a career, college, or combination education track.
Board member Bill Perry, the lone dissenting vote, favored postponing a decision so the board could settle public concern about the program.
Katie Price, incoming president of the KHSD counseling association, said there were several details about the program yet to be ironed out. A concern of hers was that middle schools need to be aware of the decisions eighth-grade students face as they head for high schools and the career options they will face in the fall.
"I think it's a good thing that parents talk with their kids about the future," said Price, noting that budget cuts next year might mean fewer high school counselors.
"It's a group effort and it can't all happen at school," she said.
A budget update presented by KHSD associate superintendent of business Dennis Scott included the frustrating, and now familiar refrain: nothing new from Sacramento.
The added dimension of the possibility of $9.9 billion in federal bailout funds flowing to California may be contributing to the "legislative paralysis" in Sacramento, Scott said.
Preparing for a worst case scenario, the district continues to forecast a mid-year budget shortfall of $11 million.
The board was in favor of the district accepting a settlement in a long-running dispute over a state-mandated behavioral program.
The legal settlement means KHSD will be reimbursed about $3 million over six years from the state.
IN OTHER BUSINESS
With a $27,000 grant, the district purchased disaster triage kits and training for its 18 high schools.
Two fathers of high-school-age daughters requested the board make clear its policy on sexual harassment; they referred specifically to a case in which an alleged perpetrator continued to participate in district athletics and attend the same high school as a victim.
