Fayette group suggests vo-tech revive advisory committee
GEORGES TWP. – An offshoot of the Fayette Chamber of Commerce proposed Monday that the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School revive its local advisory committee to strengthen the school’s educational program. Leadership Fayette, a group of business and professional people within Fayette County, has been working since September to develop a workforce development project that would increase the skill level of many county residents and would mean increased productivity.
Andrew French, assistant director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, told the vo-tech operating committee that the local advisory committee would not replace any existing committee and would be appointed by members of the operating committee.
“We are aware of the hard work you do here to educate our community’s youth, to get them into the workforce and to be productive,” French said. “We think the local advisory committee would be a great project for Fayette County.”
Among the goals of the committee would be to provide advice to the school, initiate and support activities that benefit the school and help to promote the school within the community. French said the committee will support and strengthen the relationship between business, industry, the community and education.
The committee toured the school twice and will work until June to see the project through the development cycle, he said. Plans call for 10 to 20 members to serve on the panel, all appointed by the operating committee, and will represent the business, education, professional, medical and non-profit communities.
He asked the board to approve the early plan for the committee structure Monday so letters could be sent to possible members in April and selections could be made in May. The committee could hold its first meeting as early as June, he said.
French said many vo-techs throughout Pennsylvania have similar committees, and school director John Fibbi said the committee that used to meet at the Fayette County AVTS has not met in several years.
“We want to get it re-motivated and reconnected with a fresh group of people,” Fibbi said.
Dorothy Grahek, school director in the Uniontown Area School District, said she was delighted at the idea of the community and the workforce working together for the benefit of the vo-tech.
“We have been begging for years for people to come out here and see what these kids do,” she said. “We need the workforce input to know how to train our kids.”
Grahek said for years, she and others have heard that Fayette County lacks a skilled workforce. A place like the vo-tech should be where students obtain those skills, but it is hard to give them the proper skills for today’s work environments without the necessary input from those already in those fields.
Tammy Boyle, another Uniontown school director, said the plan sounds positive for the vo-tech, but operating committee members want more information to review before taking a vote.
“You’ve done a good job, but we need to look it over and discuss it so we can get a feel for which way we’re going with this,” she said. “This will give the vo-tech the added boost it has needed for years.”
French said the timetable for the panel’s setup is flexible, but the operating committee could make a decision on the advisory group by their April 28 meeting.
In other matters, assistant director Dr. Edward Jeffreys the vo-tech received $8,500 for the remainder of the school year and will pay for a temporary School Resource Officer, will develop conflict resolution strategies to reduce instances of fighting and bullying at the school and work to reduce the number of student smokers.
The committee approved the hiring by Fibbi of the resource officer for the remainder of the grant period. Four committee members, one from each school district, will also review resumes of the seven applicants and make comments before someone is hired to fill the spot.
Members also approved the revised 2002-03 school calendar to include the four snow days earlier in the school year, voted to seek quotes for auditing services for the 2002-03 school year, and voted to change the operating committee meeting from May 26 to May 27 because of the Memorial Day holiday.
Finally, Fibbi announced that he was named last week to the recently formed state Commission on Rural Education to review the performance of rural schools and the issues that rural school districts face, among other tasks.
Other commission members include state Rep. Jess Stairs, chairman of the State Education Committee and Dr. Richard “Skip” Noftzger, vice president of institutional planning, research and educational services at Waynesburg College.