Career Academy pitched to Van Buren

Representatives from Indian Hills Community College encouraged the Van Buren Community School Board to consider joining a possible Career Academy being proposed.

Karen Swanson and Tom Rubel made their pitch at the regular board meeting Jan. 18.

The board also discussed information that would be needed to decide priorities for any building projects.

According to Swanson, Indian Hills? coordinator of high school programs, ?Indian Hills is partnering with local school districts to bring focused career and technical education closer to high school students of the region.?

The Career Academy concept in this region will have a three-pronged effect for its impact:

1. Train students in relevant and rigorous programs with hands-on experience.

2. Develop a workforce with a quicker turnaround for local industry needs that include programs in advanced manufacturing, information technology, biosciences and more.

3. Encourage economic development and new business through a better trained workforce.

Each career academy has its own unique focus based on the student needs and also needs of business and industry, Swanson said.

Career academy programs are developed locally in conjunction with schools and area employers based on industry and community needs.

The career academy in Mahaska County stresses computer networks and securities and advanced manufacturing technology; in Keokuk County, it?s welding, engineering technology, computer programming and health occupations.

?Students receive a high school diploma and college credit toward an associate?s degree,? Swanson said.

The Career Academy program combines a minimum of two years of secondary education with an associate degree or the equivalent. It integrates academic and technical instruction.

Nationally, 60 percent of high school graduates leave school without the skills to sustain employment or succeed in higher education, Swanson said.

One-third of Iowa high school seniors plan on attending a four-year institution, but only one in five will persist to the second year.

?That means that 94 percent of our high school seniors on an annual basis need an alternative plan to make a livelihood,? Swanson added. ?Only seven percent of low income students will ever earn a college degree. High skills are necessary and students aren?t graduating with the necessary high skills required.?

Southern and southeast Iowa, she said, are facing population declines.

?To help stem the tide, we?ve come up with the Regional Career Academy,? she said.

The Van Buren Community School District has considered partnering with a proposed academy based in Fairfield, but a number of logistical issues raise concerns: transportation or letting students drive and melding the course work with Van Buren?s schedule, are some of them.

Swanson tried to alleviate those issues by pointing out there are some districts about the same distance away from their academy, and for the most part, students find their own transportation.

Still board members were impressed with the Career Academy program.

?I like the concept,? said board president Brian Starnes. ?One of the benefits is the flexibility.?

Rubel, Indian Hills? executive dean of regional economic advancement, discussed Indian Hills? economic development efforts with the board.

Building project

The board has been looking at several possibilities to address any building needs the district might have. Immediate needs seem to be a practice facility for extra-curricular activities at Keosauqua.

The board has also been mulling improvements to the HVAC and electrical.

However, Superintendent Lisa Beames said more information has been needed on whether plumbing, heating or electrical updates would trigger meeting any increased code standards. She also asked the board if it needed more information for long-range planning.

The board said it would like to discuss the district?s needs with maintenance director Bruce Franklin and see the gym schedules for Douds and Keosauqua.

Beames has dates on when roofs for the various buildings were put in place.

Maintenance report

In Keosauqua, the ductwork has been installed for the unit ventilator supplying HVAC for the new office area. The total cost for this project was around $1,000 plus labor supplied by the maintenance department. The engineer?s design, which Franklin decided not to do, was bid out around $36,000. The engineer told him it would not work, but it does and saved the district money.

In Douds, a new basketball backboard was installed that could be raised and lowered. A gym light was repaired.

Additional board discussion

? The board discussed and heard a presentation on a trip to the Holocaust Museum in St. Louis. The district will use a charter bus, instead of regular school buses, according to Beames, for several reasons, including compare cost, wear and tear on the buses, distance and type of driving that needed to be done. A mentoring group is helping to defray the cost, she said.

? Starnes said Stockport has agreed to accept the three properties the district had offered the city, including the school, ball field and a lot.

?It?s their intention to sell the school,? Starnes said. Beames said the city has been in contact with its attorney on the procedures it needs to follow.

? The board discussed the Sunday practice policy. It was brought up, Beames said, after one of the two open gyms on weekends was dropped. School policy allows Sunday practices under restricted conditions. The practice can?t begin before 2 p.m., must be for varsity only and must not be made mandatory for student athletes.

According to school officials, the Sunday practice is most often used when there is a tournament game held the following Monday.

Board member Sheila Parsons asked the board to change the policy to allow the practice to begin ?after lunch,? instead of 2 p.m. She noted that open gym begins at 1 p.m.

However, other board members disagreed and suggested the policy remain as is.

?Family time around the dinner table is just as important as sports,? said board member Terry Jester.

Parsons said family members often accompany students during open gym and practices.

No action was taken to change the Sunday practice rule, although it was suggested that a stipulation be added to have the coach contact the athletic director when there would be a Sunday practice.