Tuesday, June 25, 2002
In-house vocational programs have attracted many students.
By STEPHEN SIFF
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
HOWLAND -- A handful of vocational students will be allowed to finish programs at Trumbull Career and Technical Center despite the school district's decision to send most students to the vo-ed school in Ashtabula County.
This year, about a dozen Howland juniors went to TCTC in Champion under that school's open enrollment policy, said Superintendent John Rubesich.
The five or so students who were enrolled in two programs not offered at the Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School -- small animal care and computer-assisted design -- will be permitted to finish their senior year at TCTC, he said.
"We wanted to make sure they finished the vocational program they started," Rubesich said. "The students who were in the same programs offered in Ashtabula, we will send to Ashtabula."
Howland sent most of its 25 vocational students to the Gordon D. James Career Center in Lordstown until the facility closed at the end of the school year.
Decision
The Howland school board decided to send students to Ashtabula County Joint Vocational School next year, in large part because of the cost of joining the consortium which runs the TCTC.
It would have cost Howland taxpayers about $1.4 million a year for the district to join TCTC, Rubesich said. That's about $37,000 a year for each student.
The cost for the Ashtabula JVS is about $13,000 per student per year.
Only about a dozen students have chosen to pursue vocational studies at the Ashtabula school, Rubesich said.
In-house programs
Instead, many Howland students have opted for two new vocational programs being introduced at Howland High School this year.
Marketing education, which trains students for retail work, has attracted 23 children, and 18 have signed up for a program in film and media production.
Howland paid about $5,000 a year per student at TCTC under that school's open enrollment policy, which ended when the Gordon D. James Career Center closed.
Next year, TCTC will charge Howland $17,574 a year for each student, Rubesich said.