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| District-202 Board Keeping Vocational Classes |
Classes that officials in the Knoxville School District say, in some cases, help students graduate from high school who might not without them are being spared from the budget axe.
The District 202 School Board Wednesday night approved with a 6-0 vote continuing the Galesburg Area Vocational Center classes that high school students from Knoxville and several other districts take. The board, which considered eliminating the classes, has made cuts and increased fees in response to the anticipated loss of over $600,000 in state education money next fiscal year.
Knoxville High School counselor Jenna Purlee is one of the proponents of GAVC classes. Purlee says it's a very positive program for the students who utilize it, and there are many success stories.
"I had a student this year who took the Food Service class to get a sanitation certificate, so they could work in a kitchen," Purlee said. "This student already has that; he's worked at six or eight different restaurants in Galesburg already and gotten that experience. He's now registered in culinary classes at (Illinois Central College), and he would NEVER have done that, and gone on his own to ICC, if he had not had this class."
Purlee says the program opens so many doors for kids who maybe otherwise wouldn't go on to school. Board member Patrick Callihan says, through the program, some students are going to be completing high school who never would.
Knoxville High School principal Mike Kemmer says 15 students are enrolled in various GAVC classes next year. He says the center offers 15 different classes and the school district provides the transportation for the students there and back. Kemmer says the GAVC gives the students the opportunity to take classes that can't be provided at the high school and allows the school to reach out to more students. |
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| 05 27 10 by Newsroom |
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