MW CTE offerings to expand, pending approval

The Monroe-Woodbury Central School District hopes to expand its Career and Technical Education offerings with new courses in early childhood education and fashion apparel design. Presenting to the MW Board of Education at its September 25 meeting, Monroe-Woodbury Central School District Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Dr. Eric Hassler, along with Beth Rickli, Family and Consumer Science Department chair for the middle and high school, provided an overview of these new programs. If approved, the district can begin enrolling students into the programs the following September. Rickli noted that the district will see what classes interested students have already taken and determine if those can be applied toward a CTE certification that can count towards their graduation requirements.

Hassler reviewed two of the newest CTE programs offered in the district — business administration and food and nutrition — sharing that there are currently two students per program who will receive credit like they would from BOCES courses. Regarding BOCES, Hassler emphasized that these in-school programs are not meant to draw children away from the BOCES experiences, noting that BOCES is available to provide some offerings that are not currently possible in MW schools, such as welding, plumbing, and electrical training.

Hassler and Rickli spoke about the importance of gauging student interest in developing new CTE opportunities. Hassler also informed the board that he will be discussing CTE at the high school PTA meeting in January.

During the meeting, board member Staci McCleary pointed out an unaccounted-for balance of $4,100 for the Class of 2024, prompting a discussion by the board on how to handle excess funds from previous classes. Some said that money should go to student council and others said it should be distributed evenly among the various student groups. The board also questioned how well the current graduation class is monitoring money that is coming in and how well they are fundraising for their goals. In an email exchange after the meeting, the school district clarified that the Class of 2024 officers voted to transfer their balance to the MWHS Class of 2025, meaning this year’s graduating class will receive those remaining funds.

Monroe-Woodbury Student Representative Dylan Escobar spoke about his efforts to engage with English language learners. Inspired by the prior meeting’s presentation, Escobar shared that he is reaching out to multi-lingual students to assist in collecting information from ELL students to share with the district.

In personnel news, the board approved the appointment of Bryan Wilson as director of Athletics, Physical Education and Intramurals. In addition, the board passed a resolution memorializing Hugh Cauthers, a long-time member of the MW community, who passed away. Hassler shared that Cauthers, who retired in 2015 as chief information officer, held a variety of roles in his 40-year tenure with the district, including math teacher, track coach and MW Teachers’ Association president.