School district receives state grant funding for programs
A $2 million state grant will benefit 13 high schools in Lee County.
For the second year in a row, the School District of Lee County is a recipient of the Florida Department of Education Workforce Capitalization Incentive Grant Program.
Adult and Career Education Director Brian Mangan said the district followed the Florida Department of Education Workforce Capitalization Grant process, which the state released a request for proposals in June.
“The district’s CTE (career and technical education) and grants departments then worked with our public and charter high schools to develop the proposal. Data was gathered from the Comprehensive Needs Assessment (CLNA), Futuremakers, Lee County EDO and FGCU to identify programs,” he said. “The schools used the same information and added additional layers of student interest and facility capacity.”
With $2,066,751 in grant funding received, Mangan said they will now work on the request for application and submit it to the state by Nov. 22.
“This is the second year of the Workforce Capitalization Grant that has been funded and our second year as a district benefiting from it,” he said.
The grant will impact 13 high schools — 10 public and three charter schools — by expanding and enhancing 10 programs and initiating four new programs.
“The new programs are applied robotics at Island Coast High School, solar at Estero High School and environmental water and reclamation at Cypress Lake High School. Three charter high schools, North Nicholas, Coronado and Island Park, are offering a new certified nursing assistant program. All three of these schools are operated by Accelerated Learning Solutions. The goal is to increase student access to CTE programs and continue to enhance graduates whose post-secondary plans enable them to follow one of the four E’s — Enrollment, Enlistment, Employment, and Entrepreneurship,” Mangan said.
The new programs — applied robotics and environmental water and reclamation — are aligned with local and regional needs.
“They both also can support other related career clusters. For example, applied robotics fits in engineering but also in manufacturing. Veterinary, agri-technology and outboard marine are existing programs that are in demand by our students and have post-secondary pathways to the 4 E’s,” he said.
Mangan said all the high schools had the opportunity to apply, and they worked with those who were able to submit the proposal information in the summer.
“There is still work to be done with the RFA (request for application), but the future is looking bright for CTE in the SDLC (School District of Lee County),” he said.
The Florida Department of Education awarded $62 million through the incentive grant program
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