A local push to create a second high school campus that focuses on career training for teens is gaining momentum.
Last week, leaders from Madison Area Technical College told local school officials they are "very interested" in the idea of building a new campus in the Verona Area School District that could serve as a magnet for students in five area school districts.
Though plans are still in the early stages, superintendent Dean Gorrell said last week that MATC's interest is "very, very good news" for the district.
"There are a lot of details hanging out there still," Gorrell said. "But for now, it's very promising."
Along with VASD, officials from Oregon, Belleville, Mount Horeb and Middleton-Cross Plains school districts have formed a tentative consortium that is working with MATC. Of those five districts, Verona is the most centrally located, making it a logical place for MATC to build, Gorrell said.
The idea, Gorrell said, is to create a campus where students from all five districts could study courses that are expensive or hard to provide in a traditional high school setting.
Those courses would focus on a handful of still-to-be-determined "career clusters" in categories outlined by the state Department of Public Instruction, such as "hospitality and tourism," "architecture and construction," "information technology" or agriculture.
"What's driving this is it will help our kids become more competitive in terms of jobs and careers going forward," Gorrell said.
The idea for a "Career Academy" first came to light in January, when a group of Verona Area High School teachers pitched the idea to the school board. Since then, officials have traveled to districts that offer similar partnerships between high schools and technical colleges.
In May, a group from all five districts went to the Technology Center of DuPage County near Chicago. That campus draws about 1,400 kids from 23 high schools and allows students to earn credits for both high school and associate's degrees or specialized certifications.
That "dual credit" system would be key for Verona's model, Gorrell said, as it would allow kids to leave high school more "job-ready."
"The writing is on the wall: a growing number of kids want this, they expect this," he said.
VAHS already allows students to attend MATC courses during high school. But a barrier to participation is distance: MATC's Truax campus, where most courses are held, is on Madison's far east side, forcing VAHS teens to drive more than a half-hour each way. A campus here could make that partnership more viable, officials say.
But where that campus would be, exactly, is still undetermined. Gorrell said he and Board of Education member Dennis Beres have spoken with several area landowners who are interested in either selling or donating land for MATC to build on, though he declined to specify where. He did, however, say that interest from landowners is "warm to hot."
How to pay for the new school is another unanswered question. Gorrell said one possibility would be for the consortium of districts to pay for the new campus but have MATC pay off the districts' debt each year through a lease agreement, thus eliminating the need for a referendum.
More details could emerge after June 26, when consortium leaders will hold a full-day retreat to flesh out a "more concrete proposal," Gorrell said.
After that, it's hard to say when a plan could come to fruition.
"I'd like to have it up today," Gorrell said. "But right now, this snapshot is very promising."
With MATC leaders interested, landowners on board and a consortium in place, "We have all the right ingredients," he said. "We just have to find the way to make it work.
"We don't want to be here four years from now asking the question of how are we going to do this," Gorrell said. "We think we're in a pretty good position here in Dane County to make this happen."
