By Kristin Bien, WSBT 22 Operation Education Reporter
January 16, 2023
See Part 1 Full Story.
St. Joseph County (WSBT) — Jeff Rea, President of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce confirms representatives from some school districts in St. Joseph County have been meeting regularly with a nonprofit firm to draft a plan.
Rea says, the Chamber is footing the bill for this stage of work. He says, St. Joseph County is the largest county in Indiana that doesn't have a CTE center for high school students to get certifications and career training.
That means, schools are either offering career pathways themselves or sending students to different school districts.
"What one system, one school, one corporation is able to offer verses what the collective is able to offer is really different," says Rea, "so we are kind of excited about what it means to be expanding opportunities for kids."
Rea believes that a CTE hub in St. Joseph County, where districts collaborate and combine resources would help area districts and the students, while also building up the worker pipeline.
"Our conclusion probably, is that a collaboration effort is really going to benefit the overall community, but exactly what that looks like is going to come to light here in the next couple of months," says Rea.
Worker Pipeline
Rea works every day to bring new investments and employers to the South Bend region and to connect new and current businesses with workers.
When WSBT22 sat down with Rea just after the New Year, he was still waiting to learn whether Ultium Cells would choose St. Joseph County as its new location for an estimated $2.4 billion EV battery plant.
"Employers are asking us two questions all the time," says Rea, "one, about our current workforce, I need people today to start making a product and two, I need to make sure you are feeding the pipeline as well."
Rea says, feeding that pipeline means making sure high school students are getting the career and technical training they need to either head into the workforce with skills and certifications or head to college to get higher level training.
"So, St. Joseph County is the largest county in Indiana that doesn’t have a career center. So, we thought, maybe it is time for us to look and see if we need it, how it might work."
Combining Efforts
In 2023, the Chamber hired enFocus.
enFocus is a nonprofit that partners with organizations and businesses to solve problems.
The Chamber has asked enFocus to meet up with the school districts in St. Joseph County, collaborate and create a Career and Technical Education Hub concept.
"So, our work is to help facilitate leaders in local business, local organizations and certainly the school corporations on defining what that plan might look like," says Andrew Wiand, executive director of enFocus.
It is a big job.
enFocus meets with school districts regularly.
It has been evaluating how other counties and districts in the state organize career centers. The company has met with local businesses that want to help and it has explored possible locations for a career hub in the county.
Wiand and Rea say, the goal is to have a plan finalized this spring or early summer.
"There has been tremendous collaboration across the corporations to design what a career hub and center would look like – that would have its own physical space and students coming from multiple corporations to participate," says Wiand, "at the end of this phase we will have the first idea of what programs and pathways will be there. We will have an idea for the location, how it will operate, and how it will be funded and then we need to have all of those agreements finalized by each corporation and that is what we intend to start doing this spring."
Those details are still being worked out.
Once the plan is on paper, it can then be presented to each school board in St. Joseph County that might wish to participate.
Rea says representatives from South Bend Community School Corporation, Penn Harris Madison School Corporation, School City of Mishawaka, New Prairie United School Corporation, Career and Success Academy are working with enFocus and the Chamber.
Funding details being decided
Together, representatives from each of the participating school corporations and enFocus are examining different CTE centers around the state to assess how they are governed and funded.
How a potential St. Joseph County CTE hub might be funded would depend on how it is governed, Wiand says.
“Who operates it, might then assign a tuition cost to a participating school corporation,” explains Wiand about one particular model.
Wiand says, in the examination of other CTE hubs, the stakeholders are finding an interest in having a larger school corporation govern operations and then other corporations would send students by paying a tuition.
“I would say that is the concept we are working on today,” says Wiand, although he emphasizes, that the draft concept is still in its early stages.
Right now, schools in Indiana receive state CTE funding determined through a formula that is in part based on enrollment in certain courses and the value of those courses in the workforce.
According to the state's CTE office, Indiana invested nearly $180 million last year.
Wiand says, that money could be applied to a tuition cost for "sending schools" and the overall budget of a center might be sustainable through those revenues.
"We are estimating the amount of students per pathway and then understanding how it will be governed allows us to come up with a tuition cost that would be fair to that corporation that would allow it to sustain the activities of the center," says Wiand.
There is a large amount of funds available right now for the renovation or construction of a CTE hub location.
SBCSC leaders say, when the district passed its $220 million dollar referendum in 2020, about $10-million dollars had been earmarked for a Career Innovation Center.
Centralized Location Search
enFocus and the collaborating schools have also been searching for a location.
"So, I think we are in the very early stages of that," says Rea, "we have looked in central locations, if you will. So, it has to be easily accessible for all these partners."
"You can imagine there are some locations in the downtown South Bend area that might be attractive or being investigated," says Wiand about the search, "so a central location and the amount of time it takes to get there has to be taken into account."
Wiand says the group has considered the cost and benefits of using existing buildings.
"We need to make the best decision for the right amount of square footage, the right amount of cost, and the right amount of transportation," says Wiand, "so all of that is on the table but we want to be fair that we are considering all kinds of options as well as what the overall costs may be – what we can afford."
Schools Offer CTE Now
Students in schools throughout St. Joseph County are getting some career and technical education classes at their high schools.
According to Indiana's Office for Career and Technical Education, there are some general requirements about providing students with career awareness and career development education.
The office says the vast majority of schools in the state offer at least some lower level CTE courses. This school year, the state's CTE office reports that a record 228,254 students enrolled in at least one CTE course.
Some schools offer CTE courses in house, while others offer less at the school and instead students might go to a career center to take their CTE courses.
At Penn Harris Madison School Corporation, there are about 25 career pathways that students can choose from.
Students in PHM's Building and Trades program have been building homes for more than 50 years.
South Bend Community School Corporation also offers a robust Career and Technical Education program.
Students in all of its schools can start taking CTE courses in their junior year.
At South Bend's Washington High School students can prepare for careers in medicine and science.
Rea believes that if school districts combined their offerings and staff, more students would be able to benefit and that would ultimately improve the workforce pipeline in the community.
"The overall goal is to prepare kids to be successful in life, so we want to give them the training options that are going to open a lot of opportunities for them," says Rea.
Operation Education: Plan forming for Career and Tech Education hub in St. Joseph County
By Kristin Bien, WSBT 22 Operation Education Reporter
January 18, 2023
See Part 2 Full Story.
South Bend. Ind. — A draft plan is being created right now that could call for a Career and Technical Education hub in St. Joseph County.
Some schools in the county are working together to see if it is possible.
But who would foot the bill?
The Plan
“It was really just what we needed in that moment,” says Kareemah Fowler, the Chief Financial Officer for South Bend Community School Corporation.
In 2020, the SBCSC passed a huge referendum.
“One of the things that we committed to was a career center,” says Fowler.
Fowler says, shortly after voters approved it, the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce reached out and asked to work together to do research on what a career center might look like for South Bend schools and what might be needed county wide.
“St. Joseph County is the largest county in Indiana that doesn’t have a career center and so we thought, maybe it is time for us to look and see if we need it, and how it might work,” says Jeff Rea, the president of the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Around six months ago, the South Bend Regional Chamber of Commerce hired enFocus, a nonprofit firm that partners with organizations and businesses, to work with school districts in St. Joseph County.
The goal is to collaborate and draft a plan to show the need for a Career and Technical Education hub in St. Joseph County and what a potential hub might look like.
Representatives from South Bend Community School Corporation, Penn Harris Madison School Corporation, School City of Mishawaka, New Prairie United School Corporation, Career and Success Academy are working with enFocus and the Chamber.
Together, all those stakeholders will decide where a CTE hub could be located, what career pathways and certifications would be offered and how it would be governed.
“If you envision, conceptually, we are strong in healthcare, education, manufacturing, and information technology as a region,” says Andrew Wiand, the executive director of enFocus, “we want to build a career hub that increases the amount of student enrollment and qualified workforce.”
The collaboration is in its early stages.
A detailed draft is expected to be released this spring or early summer.
Once the draft is finalized and released, it can then be presented to each school board in St. Joseph County for consideration.
Who would pay for this?
The collaboration in planning could also help with how the facility might be funded.
“I don’t’ know when there is another time that we are going to have an opportunity like what we have right now,” says Fowler, “I am talking about dollars.”
Fowler says, when South Bend voters passed the $220 million dollar referendum in 2020, about $10 million was earmarked for a Career Innovation Center.
She says, the community still wants to see a big investment in Career and Technical Education.
In June, a consultant firm working on the district’s long-range facilities plan, told the school board that community input showed there is still support for a career and technical center at a new location.
Fowler also says schools in Indiana receive state and federal funds for CTE courses and that many schools in the state are searching for ways to spend covid emergency funds before the deadline.
She says that funding could help other school districts in the county pitch in.
“We (South Bend Schools) were doing a lot of this anyway, but by the chamber taking this on and partners coming in, this really helps us,” says Fowler, “as far as a financial commitment it is not going to be as much of a financial burden to come up with the career center as it would be if we were doing it on our own.”
In its examination of different CTE centers around the state, enFocus has found at least one option that might work in St. Joseph County.
“I would say, that is the concept we are working on today,” says Wiand.
Wiand says, the stakeholders are finding an interest in having a larger school corporation govern operations and then other corporations would send students by paying a tuition per student.
In Indiana, state CTE funding is based off student enrollments in CTE courses and how advanced those courses are.
Indiana also receives some federal funding for CTE which is distributed to districts in the state.
Wiand says, that money could be applied to a tuition cost for “sending schools” and the overall budget of a center might be sustainable through those revenues.
Rea says there may also be future grant funding available.
What about the CTE already being taught?
Students in schools throughout St. Joseph County are getting some career and technical education classes right now.
Most schools in the state offer at least low level CTE courses.
Some schools offer these courses in house, while others might send students to a career center to take CTE classes.
Indiana’s Office of Career and Technical Education reports a record 228,254 students in the state are enrolled in at least one CTE course this school year.
The interest has increased with new graduation requirements for students who might receive “Postsecondary Ready Competencies.”
In South Bend Community School Corporation, there are 21 different programs available to high school students.
Students can receive professional certification through many of those career tracks.
South Bend’s Washington High School is the Medical and Allied Health Science Magnet school.
Students can get post-secondary education and professional licensure for careers in specific medication and health related fields.
“That would stay in Washington High School. And the career center would be a supplement to that,” says Fowler, “we are actually planning on a big investment in Washington.”
Fowler says community feedback has shown there should more investment in the school’s medical program.
Fowler says, part of the collaboration has been to look at what school districts are already offering and figure out what type of programming would work best at a career hub.
At Penn Harris Madison School Corporation, there are around 25 career pathways for students to choose from.
“They can do a lot at PHM,” says Josiah Parker.
Parker is the Assistant Principal at Penn High School and oversees at its CTE programming.
“So, CTE is our career and technical education. So it is courses within business, family consumer science, construction, manufacturing, health sciences, all that area,” says Parker.
Last year, students in the high school’s building and trades program built the program’s 54th house.
Parker is also representing PHM as part of the team collaborating on the potential future CTE hub.
“We looked at the schools that are participating and what they already offer. What the Elkhart Career Center already offers. That is kind of where we started a list. We started looking at supplies and materials, equipment, the cost of those,” explains Parker.
Parker says between 80 and 100 PHM students do programming at the Elkhart Career Center when PHM cannot offer those pathways at the high school.
Parker says the collaboration and the plan is in its early stages, but it has been a good process.
He says the end result could be a huge benefit to PHM students and students throughout the area.
“We are constantly scribbling and trying new things and talking through new ideas, bringing different stake holders on to get new information,” says Parker, “the whole point in being part of the process is this is going to make the community better. We will be able to educate more students in more areas, we will be specific in certain pathways and criteria that our community needs.”
“It is positive, and it is everyone coming together for the greater good that can help our community for decades to come. I am really excited about it,” says Fowler.
Where would it be located?
“So, I think we are in the very early stages of that, says Rea, “we have looked in central locations, if you will. So, it has to be easily accessible for all these partners.”
enFocus and the collaborating schools have been searching for a location although Rea says that hasn’t been the main focus.
Rea says reusing an existing space is on the table although the expense of renovations has to be taken into account.
“So, we need to make the best decision, for the right amount of square footage, the right amount of cost, and the right amount of transportation to all absorb that. So, all of that is on the table but we want to be fair that we are considering all kinds of options as well as what the overall costs may be – what we can afford,” says Wiand.
Wiand says a lot of career preparation and technical training takes place on site with employers and there has been interest and offerings of assistance from businesses in St. Joseph County.
“I would say the employer engagement has really been around how might you leverage the career hub for your work-based learning opportunities for hiring as well as what would be the programs that would help you grow your business in terms of hiring,” says Wiand.
Wiand says working with those businesses has helped the collaboration partners generate possible future courses and pathways.
“The primary recipient or benefit is the student to have more advanced course work and we can increase the value of our education all across the county,” says Wiand, “I think our current businesses will see benefit from a more qualified workforce, but I also think, this allows our area and region to be more competitive for attracting business.”