At times the audience discussions got a little emotional. Board President James Matousek had to intervene, reminding them to stay on topic. About 30 Hennessey citizens and teachers packed the seminar room during Monday’s School Board Meeting to express their thoughts on the resolution that would have called for a district-wide vote to join a Technology Center.
The school has been operating under a gentlemen’s agreement made by former Superintendent Dr. Mike Woods that allowed Hennessey students to attend Chisholm Trail Technology Center for the past four years at a reduced rate. Unfortunately, this is now ending, and Hennessey would need to join a Career Tech district to continue sending students to either CTTC or Autry in Enid.
Just as the meeting started, Hennessey Superintendent Jason Sternberger stated that Chisholm Trail Technology Center asked to be withdrawn from consideration as a career tech partner for the district, leaving Autry as the only choice. The Hennessey POST reached out to CTTC for an explanation but did not get a response.
The majority of the audience commented that they were against the 19.4% property tax increase but believed in the Career Tech concept. They commented that Career Tech is a good thing, but to burden all the taxpayers with this 1.3 million tax annually forever was not the way to go.
Shelia Duell said, “To get our money’s worth, 86 students or more would have to attend every year to get the full benefit of this investment.” There are only 9 Hennessey students are enrolled in Chisholm Trail Career Tech.
The Raymond Kokajohn Trust is currently paying the reduced tuition fee for Hennessey students to attend CTTC at no cost to the school or the student. Several commented that before the temporary agreement with CTTC they applied for grants and scholarships to send their children to a Vo-tech. By doing this it cost them nothing to send their child to the trade school.
The board listened to comments for about an hour, then voted 3 to 2 against it. James Matthew Matousek, Luke Lough, and Patrick Griffin voted no, and Cristopher Choate and David Tillman voted yes.
According to several members of the Hennessey schools administration, there are grants and scholarships available for students to attend a trade school. Any student interested in attending Autry or CTTC can do so. They simply need to apply.
