TheBakersfieldCalifornian.com

Kern High School District trustees are close to implementing a new program that will direct students into a distinct education track: preparation for college or specific career training.

And they expect to be able to phase in a slimmed-down version for next year despite anticipated state budget cuts.

The career technical path will require students to complete two years of courses in a specific industry before graduation. Both tracks will mandate a student take core subjects such as English, math and social studies.

A third option is an “independent pathway” with a mix of courses.

The district wants to shift from a culture of “college going” to “lifelong learning.”

“It's not about not going to college,” said KHSD board President Joel Heinrichs. “There are a swathe of skilled jobs in demand in our community that don't require a B.A. But they do require some training, and we want to prepare kids to do that.”

Based on the classes 2008 KHSD graduates are taking now, 26 percent would complete the college-prep pathway; 47 percent the career pathway; and 27 percent would be undecided.

The state’s freezing of $7.9 million in infrastructure money bound for KHSD last week will put on hold some facility expansion and equipment purchases for the program, but the effort will still go ahead starting August 2009, Heinrichs said.

“This is a temporary glitch that doesn't affect the project for the next two years,” he said.

Heinrichs said the district could fund all the program’s infrastructure upgrades at this point if the state does not release the bond money.

Depending on the budget situation, the board will consider moving to a full-fledged version of the plan in two years, with additional courses in the graduation requirements.

The bond money was destined for classrooms at Arvin, Bakersfield, East, Highland, Independence, Mira Monte and North high schools, according to Dennis Scott, Kern High associate superintendent of business.

The graduation requirements will kick in at every high school for the class of 2013. Each high school already offers at least two career pathways; Arvin High tops the district with nine.

Students who want to follow a pathway at a school other than theirs could get an inter-district transfer, said Scott Cole, director of KHSD career technical education instruction.

Currently a student might take woodshop as an elective. In one iteration of the career pathway program, that student will be required to take four semester-long courses in the Building Trades and Construction sector.

Cole expects that most college-pathway students will take a course that falls under the career path.

Each of the 18 KHSD high schools has at least one career education program in place, with 243 courses taught district-wide. The new program will group courses into 15 career “pathways.”

Although Vice Principal John Meyers was aware that more than $1 million in funding for upgrades to North High’s agriculture and building trades departments was stalled due to the bond freeze, he was optimistic about the long-term effect of the program.

Not all 15- or 16-year-old students know what career they want to pursue but “on the flip side, a college- or career-prep plan will make them take their studies more seriously,” Meyers said.

“It's a great thing to get kids making $15 instead of $8,” Meyers said.