Dr. Kim Williams, who works on curriculum and instruction for Pell City schools, presented on career and technical education at Tuesday night’s board of education meeting. Williams presented on grants received and the school system’s partnership with local businesses and the city.

Williams said that Pell City schools currently have eight career tech programs as well as Jeff State’s dual enrollment. These programs become increasingly popular and important as Alabama works toward Plan 2020. This plan was created by State Superintendent Tommy Bice to insure that every child graduates prepared in Alabama by the year 2020.

Williams said that a lot of changes have been made recently to insure that kids are ready when they graduate.

 One such change, according to Williams, is the phase out of the statewide graduation exam. Students are no longer required to pass this exam in order to graduate. There are now various paths that students can choose from: Advanced Placement credits, dual enrollment, benchmark ACT score and WorkKeys. Another path, which is connected to career tech is Career Readiness Indicators. Williams said that this option is one of the reasons that it is so important for Pell City to focus on career tech as an option for its students.

The school system has made many business and industry visits this year. According to Williams, these trips have been “quite productive.” She said that after each visit, she would ask what the school system could do to help on the K-12 level.

After finding out local business needs, the Pell City School System applied for the 21^st Century Workforce Fund grant. Williams said that Pell City received around $225,000 in grants. With this, Pell City schools will be adding an electrical program, a health science program and are in the beginning stages of constructing a fire science program.

Williams said that the school system would be taking its next steps this spring. Teachers, counselors and administration will be visiting businesses and industries to learn what they can do for students.

Also, Superintendent Michael Barber met with Mayor Joe Funderburg, City Manager Patrick Draper and Fire Chief Mike Burdett about career tech possibilities. “They were very open and willing to come up with ideas,” said Barber.

In other news: Eighty percent of the smoke damage at the new central office building has been removed. A third of the building has been painted, and ceiling and lights are in. The crew expects to be half way finished next week and anticipates a completion date of June 1.