Last woodshop class to close in Chino Valley school district
Author: Neil Nisperos , Staff Writer
CHINO - Students and a teacher have expressed their disapointment with a recent decision to cut Chino Valley Unified's lone woodshop class at Don Lugo High School.
Don Lugo High shop teacher Ernie Vasquez said the class has served as a valuable resource for many students who translate what they have learned into marketable skills.
The class has also attracted additional enrollment to the high school. The new students - and the state funds that come with them - are important to Chino Valley Unified as it deals with financial challenges from state revenue shortfalls, Vasquez said.
Don Lugo High shop teacher Ernie Vasquez said the class has served as a valuable resource for many students who translate what they have learned into marketable skills.
The class has also attracted additional enrollment to the high school. The new students - and the state funds that come with them - are important to Chino Valley Unified as it deals with financial challenges from state revenue shortfalls, Vasquez said.
Chino Valley Unified's school board has had to make millions of dollars worth of budget cuts this year to stave off fiscal insolvency. In January, the district had been looking at a potential $30 million deficit by 2013 if no cuts were made.
The woodshop class will no longer be offered in the 2011-12 school year.
"I've had many kids in the past basically tell me the only reason they come to school is because of this class," Vasquez said. "The impact is a lot of these kids need to be taught marketable skills to learn how to operate powered machinery, get a job and not be a detriment to society later on."
Don Lugo High student Joshua Kellogg has pleaded with school district officials to not cut the class.
"I think it's not right because it's teaching us a trade that we can use in the future," he said.
"When I came into Don Lugo, I didn't know at all what I was going to do, but when I got into woodshop, I knew what I was going to do. I thought it was a very fun class to have and it teaches us hands-on instead of reading out of a book. I think when they teach you hands-on, you understand things more and you tend to remember it a lot better."
Skilled woodworking is a career path that is needed and appreciated in the community, said Kevin Kellogg, Joshua's father.
"We're losing the skill sets these people can go into the community and apply to having a career like this," Kevin Kellogg said. "This school board is charged with looking out for the welfare of the students. I believe that if you cut an educational program down to where it's nothing more than book knowledge, you're eliminating their potential for going into careers that don't apply just book knowledge, but also apply hands-on skills, artistic skills, and the ability to use reasoning and logic when they try to solve problems. All of the things are derived from hands-on education."
District spokeswoman Julie Gobin said the decision to cut the class was made by Don Lugo High's principal. The school at 13400 Pipeline Ave. is projected to lose 4.8 full-time equivalency workers in the 2011-12 school year.
The personnel cuts were necessary due to an increase in class size ratios - from 33 students to one teacher to 35 to 1 - but also because of declining enrollment projections.
Due to the sluggish nature of budgets put together by the state and Chino Valley Unified, classes with low enrollment numbers are being scrutinized for their overall effectiveness and value to the academic program, Gobin said.
"I don't think anyone will argue with the (class supporters) ... as to how needed a course like woodshop is," Gobin said. "Just as board members have had to make difficult cuts, the same is true for the principals as well."
Vasquez said a lot of kids have benefitted from the district's lone woodworking vocational class.
"If we start eliminating these vocational classes in the state of California, kids are not gonna have jobs out there because we're gonna have to go out of state to get these people to do the type of work these kids are being taught," he said.
"They're getting hands-on training with power machines and things of that nature so they can be marketable later on in life."
Vasquez called woodshop educators a dying breed - "like a dinosaur going extinct."
Students who may be interested in continuing to take classes related to woodworking could look toward Ontario-based Chaffey Joint Union School District. Seven high schools in the district have woodworking vocational programs.
Todd Haag, director of student and staff support at Chaffey Joint Unified, said the program is still going strong.
"I know districts are wrestling with budgets and staffing," Haag said. "Our school board has been really supportive of career active education ... we have pretty viable facilities It's certainly an interest for students, and these classes may open up a door they haven't thought about before. For some, it keeps them connected with school."
The woodshop class will no longer be offered in the 2011-12 school year.
"I've had many kids in the past basically tell me the only reason they come to school is because of this class," Vasquez said. "The impact is a lot of these kids need to be taught marketable skills to learn how to operate powered machinery, get a job and not be a detriment to society later on."
Don Lugo High student Joshua Kellogg has pleaded with school district officials to not cut the class.
"I think it's not right because it's teaching us a trade that we can use in the future," he said.
"When I came into Don Lugo, I didn't know at all what I was going to do, but when I got into woodshop, I knew what I was going to do. I thought it was a very fun class to have and it teaches us hands-on instead of reading out of a book. I think when they teach you hands-on, you understand things more and you tend to remember it a lot better."
Skilled woodworking is a career path that is needed and appreciated in the community, said Kevin Kellogg, Joshua's father.
"We're losing the skill sets these people can go into the community and apply to having a career like this," Kevin Kellogg said. "This school board is charged with looking out for the welfare of the students. I believe that if you cut an educational program down to where it's nothing more than book knowledge, you're eliminating their potential for going into careers that don't apply just book knowledge, but also apply hands-on skills, artistic skills, and the ability to use reasoning and logic when they try to solve problems. All of the things are derived from hands-on education."
District spokeswoman Julie Gobin said the decision to cut the class was made by Don Lugo High's principal. The school at 13400 Pipeline Ave. is projected to lose 4.8 full-time equivalency workers in the 2011-12 school year.
The personnel cuts were necessary due to an increase in class size ratios - from 33 students to one teacher to 35 to 1 - but also because of declining enrollment projections.
Due to the sluggish nature of budgets put together by the state and Chino Valley Unified, classes with low enrollment numbers are being scrutinized for their overall effectiveness and value to the academic program, Gobin said.
"I don't think anyone will argue with the (class supporters) ... as to how needed a course like woodshop is," Gobin said. "Just as board members have had to make difficult cuts, the same is true for the principals as well."
Vasquez said a lot of kids have benefitted from the district's lone woodworking vocational class.
"If we start eliminating these vocational classes in the state of California, kids are not gonna have jobs out there because we're gonna have to go out of state to get these people to do the type of work these kids are being taught," he said.
"They're getting hands-on training with power machines and things of that nature so they can be marketable later on in life."
Vasquez called woodshop educators a dying breed - "like a dinosaur going extinct."
Students who may be interested in continuing to take classes related to woodworking could look toward Ontario-based Chaffey Joint Union School District. Seven high schools in the district have woodworking vocational programs.
Todd Haag, director of student and staff support at Chaffey Joint Unified, said the program is still going strong.
"I know districts are wrestling with budgets and staffing," Haag said. "Our school board has been really supportive of career active education ... we have pretty viable facilities It's certainly an interest for students, and these classes may open up a door they haven't thought about before. For some, it keeps them connected with school."
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