Board approves submission of multi‑pathway CTE facilities grant application under Proposition 2

The Southern Kern Unified School District board voted to submit a Career Technical Education (CTE) Facilities grant application under Proposition 2, a 50/50 matching program that funds new CTE facilities and equipment.

Mike Tenich, the district's new CTE coordinator, outlined five industry-sector pathways planned for a CTE facility at Rosemond High Early College campus: agriculture and natural resources, manufacturing and product development, public services (including public safety/cadet corps), health sciences and medical technologies, and arts/media and entertainment (video production). Tenich said the district broke the grant into sector-specific requests to align with state scoring categories.

Tenich provided updated cost estimates and the district's planned state-request amounts (state share is 50% of total): roughly $1.5 million for the agriculture/natural-resources area (construction plus equipment), about $1.54 million for arts/media (state share of roughly half of a ~$2.4 million construction cost plus equipment), roughly $1.19 million for health sciences, about $2.5 million for the manufacturing/product-development portion, and roughly $1.31 million for public services. He said those requested state shares represent the 50% portion the district is applying for; final award amounts will depend on competitive scoring.

Tenich said the state has approximately $300 million available for this grant cycle and awards are broken into urban/suburban/rural categories; the district competes within its category. The application deadline is Dec. 1, and the state scoring rubric advances applicants that reach a threshold (Tenich said 105 out of 147 points would advance an applicant to the next stage).

Board members asked clarifying questions about updated numbers and procurement timetables. A motion to accept and submit the application was moved, seconded and approved by voice vote.

Next steps: the district will post the application materials and proceed under the state timeline; if not successful this year the district may reapply in a future cycle.