Published: October 22, 2009 01:18 pm      

Enginering growth

Red River’s board approves another program expansion

DUNCAN — As Red River Technology Center proceeds with plans to expand its campus, the school is also growing in academic opportunities.

During its regular meeting for October, the RRTC Board of Education voted unanimously to add pre-engineering to its program offerings for the 2010-11 school year.

The program will debut in August with openings students for who are seniors at the district’s sending schools in 2011. But Superintendent Ken Layn said enrollment would broaden in subsequent years.

“We’re real excited about starting this new program. We’re confident it will be a success, because here in Stephens County and the district we have many engineers, mainly those connected with oil and gas,” he noted. “And most of the students who’ll be interested are those who will go on to four-year (higher education) schools.

“We’ll start enrollment with this year’s juniors, who will be seniors in August 2010. We’ll be getting enrollment packets out to the sending schools this winter.

“Right now, the program will just be open to (high school) seniors. But in the second year, it will be open to juniors and seniors. That means we’ll eventually have openings for two instructors.”

Layn said the pre-engineering program “is a companion to our bio-med department, because both programs are driven by ‘Project Lead the Way.’”

Inaugurating a new program is also linked to RRTC’s on-going project to expand its campus with the addition of a building to house the health careers program.

Because of the new building, scheduled to open in the summer of 2011, Layn said, “We’ll have pre-engineering in the (main building) the first year, and in 2011-12 we’ll move the program to the area that’s being vacated by the health careers department. There’s two large classrooms and a lab there.”

Two agenda items for the meeting in the conference room dealt with construction of the health careers building.

Layn told board members the search is on for a construction management firm to coordinate the building process, with interviews to begin in the last week of October.

Board members also approved a contract with Terracon Consulting Engineers & Scientists, an Oklahoma City firm that will conduct geotechnical services related to the health careers structure.

“We used (Terracon) when we built the business center,” Layn said. “They do ground cores and tell us what needs to be done to make a solid (building) foundation.”

In other action, the board approved:

• Employee contracts for short-term adult courses.

• The following fee schedule for testing: SAGE Test (individual administration), $75; TABE Test (individual administration), $25. Group rates, may vary in accordance with contracted price, but Layn noted there was no increase in the cost of those tests from last year.

• Adding Jarilyn Harris to the previously approved substitute teachers list.

• Adding Tammi McCarter, a teacher at Waurika Elementary School, to the previously approved AEL/GED instructor list.

• A service contract with CINTAS to provide custodial supplies.

• A vending contract with Duncan-based ATG & Co., which will be the school’s new vending contractor.

• Purchasing ads in yearbooks published by participating school districts, at a cost of $75 per ad.

• Out-of-state travel expenses for Sam Porter to attend a Project Lead the Way 2009 symposium in Austin, Texas, and for Sheryl McGhghy to attend advance placement training in Dallas, Texas.

• A resolution to transfer funds of $234,000 from the Activity Fund to the General Fund, which is an annual statutory requirement.

• The September Activity Fund and treasurer’s reports.

• General Fund change orders, warrants and encumbrances for fiscal year 2009.

• General Fund change orders, warrants and encumbrances for FY ’10.

• General Fund payroll change orders, warrants and encumbrances for FY ’10.

• Minutes from a regular meeting on Sept. 8.

During informational items before the close of the meeting, Layn and board members discussed board meeting dates for 2010, room usage at the school during September and an OSSBA District 11 meeting on Oct. 8 in Geronimo.

Also discussed were a BAC report, a report on shelter drills and a Career Information Specialist report, which dealt with sophomores from sending schools taking tours of the RRTC facility.