Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Sweetwater board votes to cut occupational programs

Students vow to continue protest

On April 9, the majority of the Sweetwater Union High School District board (John McCann, Arlie Ricasa, and Jim Cartmill) voted to cut the district’s Regional Occupation Program/Career Technical Education and adult-school programs.

Funding for the program comes from the state and is channeled through the San Diego County Department of Education. According to Albert Alt, Sweetwater’s new chief financial officer, the county has not promised the district any specific dollar amount and will be appropriating money according to its own priorities, first to the juvenile court system.

Sweetwater superintendent Ed Brand said he is meeting with Marty Block, Ben Hueso, and Juan Vargas about the problem. Boardmember John McCann said, “If I had a magic wand I would restore the whole program.”

The district usually gets $7.5 million for its Regional Occupation Program/Career Technical Education, according to trustee Pearl Quiñones. She has pointed out that other school districts have chosen not to cut the programs and are willing wait for the May budget revisions. The district has borrowed $1.5 million from the Regional Occupation Program funds for purposes other than funding the program.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Quiñones stated, “I have crunched the numbers, and this program only needs $3.5 [million] to function.”

Many community members who are enrolled in ROP classes addressed the board on April 9. Jerry Thomas, a longtime Chula Vista resident who is currently enrolled in an engineering class through ROP/CTE, told the board, “The poor cannot afford the price of higher education…. The ROP program is the educational and workforce safety net that links the classroom to the workforce.”

Classmates from an ROP phlebotomy class were particularly vocal in their protest. One told the board: “We are asking you for help now; we may be the people you are asking for help in the future.”

A visit to the phlebotomy class the day after the vote demonstrated the students are daunted but not defeated. They are studying as hard as ever while their future hangs in the balance.

The course they are taking through the Sweetwater ROP/CTE is free but demands five months of study followed by 250 hours of internship, which was scheduled for this summer.

On the day of the visit, their professor Jean Dessources was instructing students on eye-flushing procedures. In addition to phlebotomy, enrollees are prepared for many kinds of medical emergencies.

Dessources has taught the class for seven years. Although his future is uncertain, his concern was for the class. “I feel my students are in limbo right now. They can’t get their certification without their internships” because the internships are no longer funded.

Two students said they enrolled in the same course at Pima Medical Institute (a private institution) and it cost them $1400. They both felt they got more individualized attention in the ROP class.

All of the students say they feel they are under a great deal of stress now. One said, “I have paying for daycare for five months; without an internship it will be all for nothing.”

Cynthia Mendoza, however, seemed to speak for the whole class when she said, “We’re not giving up. Tonight [April 10] we’re going to the County Board of Education meeting. We’ll go to Obama if we have to.”

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets

On April 9, the majority of the Sweetwater Union High School District board (John McCann, Arlie Ricasa, and Jim Cartmill) voted to cut the district’s Regional Occupation Program/Career Technical Education and adult-school programs.

Funding for the program comes from the state and is channeled through the San Diego County Department of Education. According to Albert Alt, Sweetwater’s new chief financial officer, the county has not promised the district any specific dollar amount and will be appropriating money according to its own priorities, first to the juvenile court system.

Sweetwater superintendent Ed Brand said he is meeting with Marty Block, Ben Hueso, and Juan Vargas about the problem. Boardmember John McCann said, “If I had a magic wand I would restore the whole program.”

The district usually gets $7.5 million for its Regional Occupation Program/Career Technical Education, according to trustee Pearl Quiñones. She has pointed out that other school districts have chosen not to cut the programs and are willing wait for the May budget revisions. The district has borrowed $1.5 million from the Regional Occupation Program funds for purposes other than funding the program.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Quiñones stated, “I have crunched the numbers, and this program only needs $3.5 [million] to function.”

Many community members who are enrolled in ROP classes addressed the board on April 9. Jerry Thomas, a longtime Chula Vista resident who is currently enrolled in an engineering class through ROP/CTE, told the board, “The poor cannot afford the price of higher education…. The ROP program is the educational and workforce safety net that links the classroom to the workforce.”

Classmates from an ROP phlebotomy class were particularly vocal in their protest. One told the board: “We are asking you for help now; we may be the people you are asking for help in the future.”

A visit to the phlebotomy class the day after the vote demonstrated the students are daunted but not defeated. They are studying as hard as ever while their future hangs in the balance.

The course they are taking through the Sweetwater ROP/CTE is free but demands five months of study followed by 250 hours of internship, which was scheduled for this summer.

On the day of the visit, their professor Jean Dessources was instructing students on eye-flushing procedures. In addition to phlebotomy, enrollees are prepared for many kinds of medical emergencies.

Dessources has taught the class for seven years. Although his future is uncertain, his concern was for the class. “I feel my students are in limbo right now. They can’t get their certification without their internships” because the internships are no longer funded.

Two students said they enrolled in the same course at Pima Medical Institute (a private institution) and it cost them $1400. They both felt they got more individualized attention in the ROP class.

All of the students say they feel they are under a great deal of stress now. One said, “I have paying for daycare for five months; without an internship it will be all for nothing.”

Cynthia Mendoza, however, seemed to speak for the whole class when she said, “We’re not giving up. Tonight [April 10] we’re going to the County Board of Education meeting. We’ll go to Obama if we have to.”

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.