KENT CITY SCHOOLS AWARDED STATE FUNDING FOR CAREER TECHNICAL FACILITY EXPANSION
Contact: Tom Larkin, Superintendent
Tel: 330.676.7630
Email: tlarkin@kentschools.net
KENT CITY SCHOOLS AWARDED STATE FUNDING FOR CAREER TECHNICAL FACILITY EXPANSION
$2.3 million grant to create Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center project
(Kent, OH; November 3, 2023) – Kent City Schools has been awarded $2,329,250 in special state funding for an Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center project at Theodore Roosevelt High School.
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and Lt. Governor Jon Husted held a press conference today in Dayton to announce the grant recipients of the Career Technical Construction Program. Kent City Schools Superintendent Tom Larkin attended the press conference.
Funding for the project comes from the Career Technical Construction Program, a priority earmark in the new state budget for expansion of career-technical facilities in Ohio’s public schools. No local funds will be needed to complete the project.
The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission will administer the program and is developing the program guidelines in conjunction with the Governor’s Office of Workforce Transformation.
Fifty-nine (59) proposals were submitted from Ohio public schools for the expansion program and thirty-five (35) of the proposals received funding, totaling almost $200 million.
Kent City Schools Director of Career-Technical Education Brian Bachtel stated, “We identified a need to expand our programming in the manufacturing and engineering pathways. Our current lab space has outgrown the facility.”
The plan is to create a new manufacturing program and expand enrollment in the engineering pathway by creating a 3,500 square-foot state-of-the-art addition on the north side of Theodore Roosevelt High School. The new program will provide a pipeline of potential employees who are “career ready.”
Bachtel added, “This project has extensive support from business and industry, as well as local and regional public officials. We have worked collaboratively to design this project to create an optimal environment for students to be prepared for entry-level manufacturing and engineering employment or post-secondary studies.”
The facility will be used for students in the Six District Educational Compact, comprised of the Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Kent, Stow-Munroe Falls, Tallmadge, and Woodridge school districts. The Compact offers 28 Career-Technical Education programs to students who reside in these districts.
Superintendent Tom Larkin said, “We would like to thank the DeWine-Husted Administration, who initiated the concept for Ohio’s Career Technical Education facility expansion in public schools. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students and the Kent community. The Kent City Schools Advanced Manufacturing and Innovation Center project will help meet the workforce needs of local and regional business and industry.”
For additional information about Kent City Schools, visit www.kentschools.net.
From left to right: Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, Kent City Schools Superintendent Tom Larkin, Ohio Lt. Governor John Husted.