Plans for new Aiken County career and technology center move forward
Sep. 16—Plans are moving forward for the Aiken County Career and Technology Center's relocation to the Aiken Technical College campus.
The Aiken County Board of Education approved pursuing having the new career center built on Aiken Tech's campus during its meeting on Sept. 13. Dr. Corey Murphy, director of operations and student services, told board members the school district is receiving $30 million from the MOX settlement that is going toward the construction of the new career center.
"I appreciate the legislature seeing fit to give us $30 million out of the MOX settlement towards this," said school board member Jason Crane. "I think this will be a very excellent thing for the whole community."
During the meeting Crane asked about a timetable for the project, with Murphy stating it would be at least 24 months since the project is still in the planning phase.
Board member Brian Silas asked if the school district was planning to construct a new building or retrofit a current building on Aiken Tech's campus.
"Currently Aiken Tech has demolished an area and we're just going to lease that piece of land and we're going to totally construct our building new," Murphy said.
Superintendent King Laurence said the school district would look at a lease that would exceed the lifespan of the building. The current career and technology center is 56 years old and the school district would want a lease longer than that.
Crane asked about the plans for the old career and technology center once the new one is built. Laurence said it will most likely have a new use within the school district.
School board member Patricia Hank asked if all the current programs will move to the new location and if any new programs will be added to the curriculum.
"Speaking with Mr. (Kenneth) Lott, (director at the career and technology center), just like all curriculum offerings, it's driven by student request," Murphy said. "If the programs are viable, they'll definitely go over and then we'll take a look at some programs that are coming online as well as programs we may shift from area high schools out there if we have a more robust facility."
Following the school board's approval, the next step for the school district is to meet with architects about what they would like to see with the new career center, Murphy said.
"(The architect) already had the initial ideas from the previous plan, but we're going to scrap that plan completely because it was at the old site and now we're going to meet again and say we've got the go ahead, lets get started on it. He'll plan some new meetings with the faculty and staff and then we'll start liaising with Aiken Tech," Murphy said.
As for what it means to be working with Aiken Tech, Murphy said it's a big deal because it means the students will be able gain a familiarity with the college campus.
"We found in the past, we've studied this model at Camden, at Kershaw County, we studied it in Charleston as well. When this model is applied, your college and career readiness goes through the roof, so we're excited about that," Murphy said.
Laurence is also looking forward to the partnership with Aiken Tech and the benefits students will receive.
"We have just begun talking about the opportunities that are going to be available not only for our students, but for Aiken Tech students as we look at duel enrollment and some shared uses and we're just really excited about the future of workforce development and education in Aiken County," Laurence said. "So we're very excited about this partnership."
Gloss