College agrees to spend $1,000 a month for lease of east County classroom space compared to $20 million spent on constructing west side CTE facility
The East County Joint Technical Education District’s Valley Academy for Career and Technology Education (V’ACTE) held its grand opening January 23, 2018. There was an excellent turn-out for the celebration. Students, faculty and residents enjoyed the event that included a series of live demonstrations by students.
The Center, the first centralized facility developed by the east County District, offers career and technical education training in a number of areas for high school students and adults. These include construction, culinary, firefighting, welding, nursing assistant and others. Click here for more information about V’ACTE courses.
Bob Weir and his staff are to be congratulated for moving ahead with the facility and initiating centralized training for east County students and residents. Weir has faced a number of hurdles including disputes over revenue sharing with high schools that he worked out.
The facility is also used by Yavapai Community College where it offers a handful of joint courses with the V’ACTE. The College has agreed to pay $1,000 a month for use of the facility. The east County facility is, of course, in sharp contrast to the $20 million dollar centralized CTE facility the College built for west county residents at the Prescott airport.
Recall that Yavapai Community College began a CTE program in 2004 in Building “L” on the Verde Campus. It was called the Northern Arizona Regional Skills Center and was the result of voter approval of the 2000 General Obligation Bond and a $1 million dollar grant from the federal government. That project was shuttered when the Community College Governing Board decided to build the CTE Campus at the Prescott airport in 2006-07. Since that time, the Verde Valley has provided millions of dollars for the west County project. However, only a few residents and no high school students have been trained there. The College has refused to take the lead in developing CTE on the East side of the County.