In 2016, Kettering voters approved a bond for facilities that generates about $4.2 million per year. In 2018, they approved a permanent 5.99-mill operating levy, in part to pay for staffing costs, including the kindergarten and career tech expansions.
The 25,000-square-foot Fairmont High School addition, now budgeted at $8.5 million, will be open for the 2020-2021 school year, according to Ken Lackey, the district’s director of business services. It will house the alternative education program for at-risk students, plus a new cosmetology program and salon.
The construction trades program will move out of the existing high school into a larger space in the addition.
“The building is slated to be completed in the summer of 2020, and the the three programs will begin the 2020-2021 school year in the new building,” district spokeswoman Kari Basson said.
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Once the construction trades program moves, that space will be renovated to accommodate a new medical assisting program that is set to start with the 2021-2022 school year, according to Basson.
The career tech program expansion will benefit students and open up new educational opportunities, according to Career Tech Principal Liz Jensen.
Fairmont has career tech programs that include automotive, biotechnology, allied health, interactive media, engineering, construction trades, business academy, digital design, early childhood education, info tech and marketing.
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