Vo-tech to change schedule next year
Students enrolled at the Fayette County Area Vocational-Technical School are expected to split the school day next year to receive both academics and skills in their chosen work area. Starting with the 2008-09 school year, the Uniontown and Albert Gallatin area school districts have decided to join the Laurel Highlands and Browns-ville Area school districts and send students to the vo-tech school for half of a school day and to their respective high school for the other half.
Students will follow the schedule year-round versus attending one school for a semester per year and the other for the other half of the year, as Uniontown and Albert Gallatin high school students currently do.
School district administrators came to an agreement on the matter Thursday after holding meetings to iron out a consistent attendance plan during the last several months, according to Dr. Charles Machesky, superintendent of the Uniontown Area School District and chief school administrator for the vo-tech school.
Machesky said research points to students performing stronger academically when they are learning math and English every day.
“(Students) being away from the home school for a whole year is not a good social atmosphere,” Machesky said. “Something consistent was needed. …We needed a common starting point.”
Over half of the school’s student enrollment this semester was expected to come from Uniontown and Albert Gallatin school districts, according to enrollment figures provided by the vo-tech school.
The agreement was reached a day after the Albert Gallatin Area School Board decided to postpone a vote on the move, citing that another meeting was called to discuss issue.
The move would become official after the Uniontown and Albert Gallatin area school boards vote on the matter. The Uniontown Area School Board will meet at 6:30 p.m. today.
Laurel Highlands began sending students to the vo-tech for a half-day about this school year after moving ahead with the switchover last summer.
Acting Superintendent Dr. Gary Brain said the switchover is going smoothly for Laurel Highlands, but the district hasn’t been able to evaluate whether it has led to a rise in Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) scores.
“One year isn’t enough time,” said Brain.
While district officials acknowledge they would like to see PSSA scores increase, they are not calling that the only reason for the switchover. Rather, they said, the semester-about system was causing students to miss out on instruction time.
Brain said Laurel Highlands made the switch so vo-tech students could take academics during the course of the entire school year and to give them the opportunity to participate in activities at the home school year-round.
Joetta Britvich, principal of Albert Gallatin Senior High School, said the switchover may also let students feel they have ownership in their high school.
Meanwhile, further changes may be in store for vo-tech students.
School officials also are kicking around a plan for a “comprehensive” approach to instruction.
According to Dr. Edward Jeffreys, director of the school, under the approach, students would learn specialized math, English and science instruction related to the area in which they are being trained. Students would attend the vo-tech the entire school year, said Jeffreys.
The holdup to begin such a plan is money, said Jeffreys, since the plan would require hiring more teachers. Currently, the vo-tech does not offer instruction in basic subjects such as English or math, he said.
“The bottom line is we need to be putting kids in jobs when they graduate,” said Jeffreys. “This is not a special education facility or a place to hide out. There’s no doubt in my mind that this school can turn out good, employable students – students better prepared for the workforce – if we have better control over what they do and study.”
Machesky said the option for comprehensive instruction was not fiscally responsible at this time.
Brownsville Area School District is in its third year sending students half-day. School officials there could not be reached for comment regarding how the switchover has benefited the district and its students.