As high school students from Bagdad to Mayer return to school this year, they can enroll in career and technical education courses along with their regular classes.
The Mountain Institute, Joint Technology Education District (JTED) will offer classes to students this school year.
Voters in Ash Fork, Bagdad, Chino Valley, Humboldt, Mayer, Prescott and Seligman school districts approved the formation of JTED during the November 2008 General Election.
The new Mountain Institute Governing Board worked diligently to approve policies and procedures, and to establish course selections for the 2009-10 school year at member districts and Yavapai College.
Mountain Institute Program Director Jeremy Plumb said JTED students traveling from their home campus to another campus would follow the schedules and calendars of the host school while attending JTED classes.
"Students must keep track of their home school and MI school schedules," Plumb said. "If they are traveling to another school, we expect them to be in class."
Plumb said tentative enrollment is between 2,000 and 2,500 students. Only about 175 of those students will travel to another campus, with the rest taking JTED classes on their home campus.
The program director said MI has not advertised its programs, and "once other students see the opportunities and the classes MI offers, I expect the numbers to increase," he said.
The MI Governing Board approved classes in six career and technical areas. These include: Transportation Technologies with classes at Prescott High School and the Yavapai College Career Technology Education Center; Construction Technologies at PHS; Culinary Arts at Bradshaw Mountain High School East Campus; Agriculture at Chino Valley High School; Audio Visual at BMHS West Campus; and Business Management and Information at PHS.
Plump said the JTED courses on centralized campuses include class times adjusted to student needs.
MI scheduled an auto class from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Fridays only to accommodate students whose home schools are on a four-day school week.
Plumb said that if a student must travel for a class, the students' home district is responsible for providing transportation.
"I think each of the districts will handle transportation differently," Plumb said.
"JTED will support and enhance programs that are already at the individual schools, and if a student is traveling, the credits go to the home school," Plumb said.
"This first year, we are focusing on as many students as possible. However, juniors and seniors cannot take a three- or four-year program since they would not have time to complete it," Plumb said.
He said the sophomore class of 2009-10 has the best opportunity to fully benefit from JTED.
Now that it is up and running, MI officials are making plans for the future. Plumb said officials are hoping to offer online and web-based classes next year. He said students would receive daily instruction via the Internet and come together for labs.
To take a JTED class, students must be enrolled in one of the seven member districts, and be able to fit the class into his or her schedule.
JTED courses are available, with no tuition, to all students. Some courses may include a fee, which is the responsibility of the student.
When voters approved the formation of JTED, they actually approved an additional five cents per $100 of secondary assessed valuation, an extra $5 per year for a $100,000 home.
Reader Comments
Posted: Thursday, August 13, 2009
Article comment by:
Andrew S. Newton MD
This is a tremendous step for education in our area. Kudos to Tim Carter for his effort in encouraging the voters to approve the formation of the Mountain Institute and subsequent board formation. I think this will pay off for students very soon and will be very popular in years to come. It cost the voters next to nothing, much of the money coming from the state, funding that was due to expire this year if I remember correctly. We got in just under the wire thanks to Tim Carter.
