Vocational vision

Orange County has set its sights on a $15 million career and technical education center. Building it, however, is another matter entirely.
After two years of planning and fundraising, the Orange County School Board has a conceptual design for its proposed career and technical education (CTE) facility.
Late last month, Grimm and Parker Architects, hired using funds donated by local businesses and organizations, released its conceptual design plan for the county's proposed career and technical education center. The proposed two-story building would sit adjacent to the high school facing Route 20 and provide 58,840 gross square feet of space with areas for agriculture, health and medical trades, building trades, automotive and small engine studies and family and consumer sciences, as well as banquet and large group instruction space. The design also includes virtual classrooms are also included which could link to Germanna Community College.
The design aligns with the findings of the CTE Taskforce, which studied employment market trends and data to determine how the school's current CTE programs matched up with changing market demands. The group found space was needed to add potential courses in business and information technology, health and medical sciences and trade and industrial programs. And, according to Orange County Public School Director of Secondary Instruction Linda Carlton, the "right kind of space" is needed for things like nursing labs, culinary arts catering services and café operations, life skills labs, a Hornet Tech lab and drawing and design labs for drafting. The new conceptual design for the center includes all of this.
The building is designed to be flexible, architect Paul Klee said. He said that flexibility would allow for changes and growth in various fields of study as job demands change throughout the years. It also would provide a space for community gatherings and adult workforce education.
Plus, Carlton said, not only would the building solve a problem of how to expand career and technical education offerings, it would also relieve overcrowding at the current high school. The Orange County High School is currently at 108 percent of its capacity, she said. If 180 more students were added to the school, it would be at 120 percent capacity, which would equal 11 or more learning cottages at the school.
"We are going to see modular units at the high school in the future," Orange County Public School Superintendent Dr. Bob Grimesey said. "A new high school costs at a minimum $50 million. This demonstrates good stewardship."
Grimesey said the initial cost estimate to construct the proposed CTE center is $15.3 million. This estimate does not include anything needed to furnish the building.
"This is $15.3 million strictly to build," he said. "It does not include relocating transportation, maintenance or outfitting the building."
Grimesey said the Workforce Orange Executive Steering Committee, which was essential in providing input regarding the center, was insistent that the conceptual design not be scaled back at this time.
"It's intended to be a vision," he said. "If we get to the point where we are fortunate enough that it becomes reality, scaling back will be done in the next step."
"It's wonderful," District 3 School Board member Judy Carter said. "We've talked about this for many years. Hopefully it will see the light soon."
District 2 School Board member Donna Waugh-Robinson said the center will bring value to the community.
This "vision" has been a long time coming. In May 2009, the Orange County Board of Supervisors endorsed the school administration's idea to conduct a study of career and technical education. A taskforce was formed to study local, state and national workforce trends and to determine how the schools' current career and technical education programs matched up. That taskforce developed a study which was endorsed by the school board that fall and then presented throughout the county for the next 14 months, garnering support for the plan. Using that support, architects were hired in January and spent months evaluating local sites and hearing input from stakeholders.
Four sites (Timber Truss, Blue Bell, Butler and the existing high school) were evaluated by structural, mechanical and electrical engineers to see which, if any, would be a viable location for the center based on several criteria including proximity to Orange County High School; site and building safety and a feeling of protection on the campus; the ability for the site to support a school with flexible design and ease of access for all including students, community, staff, pedestrians, cars and buses; cost of on and off site development required to develop the center on the site; and the site's ability to create a socially responsible and energy efficient focal point in the community.
According to Klee, each site had positives and negatives with the existing high school site coming out as the favored option. Whereas the three other sites are manufacturing and industrial sites which generate tax revenue for the county, the high school site is not. The current high school site, however, does not generate tax revenue for the county and Klee said it provides the best location for the proposed career and technical education center. He said the existing high school campus, specifically where the division's transportation and maintenance departments and Hornet Tech are currently located, offers an area large enough to build a new facility, one in which students can easily walk to in a supervised environment. He said the site allows for good traffic patterns, future flexibility and adaptability and accommodates storage. He also said the site is highly visible and could be a prominent focal point.
School board members unanimously approved that site in March for use in the conceptual design plan. No final or definite plan has been chosen. According to Grimesey, the next step is for the school board to add the conceptual design to its capital improvement project list. This is expected to be done at the July 12 meeting.
Until then, the school board is soliciting input on the conceptual design. A link can be found on the schools' website, www.ocss-va.org., containing more information about the design and the county's CTE offerings. The public can also view the display of the conceptual design at the Taylor Education Administration Complex June 15 through the end of the month as well as during the June 28 meeting. Public comment will be taken beginning at 6 p.m.