Students in some visual arts and other courses in CUSD will receive valuable “grade bumps,” for their efforts this school year, which can boost their overall GPA.

“Beginning in the 2016/17 school year, the UC admissions office has agreed to issue a GPA bump of 5 points (just like an AP or IB course) to CTE courses that are both articulated/dual credit and have UC A-G accreditation,” said Executive Director of Career Technical Education, Patricia Romo.

CTE means Career/Technical Education and the GPA boost applies to courses related to CTE. At SJHHS this includes Digital Photo 1A/1B, Video Production, and TV Broadcast Journalism.

A course is articulated when students taking it also receive credit at a community college. Certain electives at SJHHS are already recognized by UC as having A-G accreditation, while others are not. And some have articulation agreements in place and others don’t.

“Now, students who are on the AP track or UC/CSU track will be able to take CTE classes that are just as valuable to college and careers,” Romo said.

Check with your teacher, guidance counselor or Mr. Paulsen to see if your course qualifies for the grade bump.

Over the next three years CUSD will receive an incentive grant totaling over $7 million for funding Career Technical Education, also known as CTE.

In the first year the district will receive approximately $3.2 million dollars, the second year the district will receive $2.4 million, and the third year the district will receive $1.6 million, according to Romo.

“This money must be spent on CTE classes that are taught by an appropriately credentialed CTE teacher with industry experience,” said Romo.

All CTE classes are identified under certain “industry sectors.” These courses form a career pathway that can lead to a potential career in that sector.

“The grants are going under the visual arts department so instead of kids just making drawings and paintings they could use technical equipment to make designs and be more focused on industrial arts,” said the Assistant Principal of Guidance, Eric Paulsen.

Funds will come to SJHHS in phases. Right now Mr. Norgren, Mr. Carlson, and Mr. Wooten are in the first phase which means they have active CTE credential applications, and so have received CTE grant equipment over the summer.

However, the obstacles to obtain the CTE credential are many. Existing teachers must document recent industry experience totaling at least 1,000 hours as well as pay application fees for the credential and complete online coursework. 1,000 hours is approximately 25 40-hour work weeks or 50 weeks of half-time employment or industry related internships.

It would take a non-CTE credentialed teacher over three summers of full-time work to meet the requirements.

On the other hand, a professional with lots of industry experience could qualify for a CTE credential but still need to return to college to complete a teaching credential program and a student teaching assignment to get a California Clear Teaching Credential, which is different than a CTE credential.

The district has from now until June 30, 2017 to identify other pathways, help teachers who qualify obtain CTE credentials, and spend the rest of the grant money.