EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Leaders in Career and Technical Education (CTE) encourage local school districts to seek their support amid funding issues and to continue providing students ample access and resources to CTE training.  Canutillo ISD recently approved a move to make district-wide staff and program cuts to address a nearly $6 million shortfall. One of those cuts will involve the district’s CTE Department.  Canutillo ISD moves forward with staff layoffs, program cuts Gustavo Reveles, CISD’s communications director, said they will be able to continue providing all of their CTE courses, but they had to significantly reduce the department’s administration to make it work.  “Our CTE funding has been reduced by the state. CTE courses — which includes engineering, healthcare, law enforcement and other career preparation classes — are an important part of our offerings. To offset the reduction in funding and retain all course offerings, we have made the decision to eliminate a central office position in the CTE Department,” Reveles said.  “Additionally, the remaining CTE administrator will be moved to Canutillo High School, where he will be better able to serve the majority of the students in CTE courses,” Reveles added.  CEO for Western Technical College, Brad Kuykendall, said they already have a partnership with Anthony, Tornillo, and Socorro ISD. The three districts send their students under a dual enrollment program to Western Tech to learn under their instructors in different trades programs, while also obtaining credit for high school and college.  “I know the school districts are in difficult positions where they’re having to make cuts in areas where they may not want to, but they’re being forced to. I would say we have to think outside the box,” Kuykendall said.  “Students that come to us from a variety of school districts get experience with the wide array of equipment we have. Whether it’s automotive, HVAC & refrigeration, physical therapist assistants, nursing, welding. All of these trades programs that we have can go to support that. We have an excess capacity of resources in the afternoon. And so, if we can set up an agreement with the school district where students can come in the afternoon, we already have teachers as resources, we have equipment as resources. I think that can help to solve some of the budget shortfalls that the school districts are working on.” Data from the Texas Workforce Commission shows that many CTE occupations are projected to be in high demand in the Borderplex through 2032, namely registered nurses and software developers. Borderplex-WDA-CTEDownload “The trade jobs in particular and technical jobs that we go with, they’re middle skill trade jobs that go to support the entire industry. When the COVID-19 Pandemic occurred, the essential jobs that were crucial for continuing the economy and supporting us that were working from home were the trade and skill jobs,” Kuykendall said.  Scott Herndon, director and owner of Sun City Welding Academy, agreed with Kuykendall that the trades workforce is essential to the Borderland, and is a vital alternate career path for many students who don’t want to pursue the traditional university route.  “A lot of our graduates are graduating debt-free because of the payment plans that we offer. They graduate, they get out there, and they find a job. We can't graduate them fast enough. Skilled tradesmen are essential to this region,” Herndon said.  Herndon said that while there are many opportunities out in El Paso for students to seek a CTE education, he said it is crucial for local public schools to continue to offer that first experience and intrigue for students who are still unsure of what career to pursue.  “High school is where it starts. Getting them young, where they have that open mind. Capturing them early, getting them intrigued and showing them that there's a future in welding, where they can actually start researching and exploring what welding can do for them, and that's where we come in,” Herndon said.  Meanwhile, Kuykendall urged state legislators to reconsider how their decisions affect regions like the Borderland.  “At a time when there's a significant amount of budget shortfalls, I think there needs to be a balance of accountability for those budgets, but also ensuring that we have the support. We're already in a socio-economically disadvantaged area,” Kuykendall said. "Ample consideration needs to be given to properly fund and budget many of these initiatives that we have. Otherwise, our region is going to continue to fall behind in terms of funding, in terms of education, in terms of training, and in terms of overall opportunity. We need to provide the opportunity, and we need to make sure that those opportunities are kept here within the Borderplex region to support us.” ...read more read less