McCarver says Community College educational facilities and opportunities will “never be equal on the west and east sides of the County;” McCasland fights for Verde; Harris mum
Second District Representative Deb McCasland raised the question of adequate access to Career and Technical Education (CTE) opportunities and the absence of CTE facilities in the Verde Valley at the October 24 District Governing Board meeting in Prescott. West County Representative Chair Ray Sigafoos said that he was prepared to support a $5 million-dollar 30,000 square foot or 40,000 square foot facility on the East side if a proposal came over the mountain to him and the Board.
Sigafoos conceded that the College does not “have an adequate single JTED facility in the Verde Valley.” However, he blamed the former Verde Valley JTED for not providing the Board with that opportunity. He said that there has not been a “stable [CTE] organization in the Verde Valley” or a building the College could afford until the last year or so. He claimed that he had not “ignored” the Verde Valley.
West County Representative Pat McCarver seemed somewhat less enthusiastic about CTE on the East side of the County than Sigafoos. She blamed the prior JTED Administration for the current situation saying it was not possible until now to consider building a centralized CTE facility on the East side of the County. She also stated that from her perspective that educational facilities and opportunities will “never be equal” on both sides of the County.
Representative McCasland continued her consistent theme of supporting the development of adequate Career and Technical Education facilities and opportunities on the East side of the County. Representative Connie Harris and West County representative Steve Irwin made no comment.
Sigafoos noted that the Board will begin discussing capital projects in January 2018.
The discussion covered about three minutes and is provided in the following video in its entirety.