The Utica (N.Y.) district wants to build a career technical education wing at Thomas R. Proctor High School.
The $18 million addition would enable the district to keep students on the Proctor campus instead of transporting them to Oneida-Herkimer-Madison BOCES in New Hartford, reports The Observer-Dispatch.
Utica’s voters will decide on Dec. 7 whether to approve some of the funding for the addition.
District officials cited many potential benefits of the construction proposal:
- Many students have chosen not to take career/tech classes because of the travel involved.
- Students may have trouble enrolling in high-demand courses at BOCES because of competition from students in other districts.
- CTE students would have more time to take electives and advanced placement classes.
- More students would have access to programs that prepare them to enter jobs right after high school graduation.
The district now has about 240 enrolled in BOCES programs out of a student body of 3,000. If programs become available on the Proctor campus, officials expect enrollment to increase significantly.
The project consists of a three-story, 28,300-square-foot addition and the renovation of 12,000 square feet of existing space. That would result in space for 10 career/tech programs.
With the new addition students will be able to take classes such as automotive technology, automotive body and repair, construction trades (including carpentry, electrical, plumbing and masonry), culinary arts, cosmetology, drone technology, cybersecurity, early childhood education, criminal justice and nursing.
The district anticipates state aid of almost $11 million to help pay for the addition.
If the referendum passes, the addition would open in September 2024.
