MOUNT VERNON — An emotional meeting where numerous positive words were shared about the school and the students ended in the decision to terminate the engineering and drafting program at the Knox County Career Center on Thursday evening.
“It’s all about the numbers,” board president Richard McLarnan told a packed house that had gathered, many of whom came to voice their support for the program. “The program doesn’t have enough students that the state department of education can reimburse us to take care of our instructor,” he said. McLarnan explained that there is a requirement of 15 juniors and 12 seniors be enrolled in the program. There is currently a total of 17 students enrolled this school year.
“I’ve known Steve (Jefferson) for many years. He’s a good instructor. But he would not go out and recruit students to build his program up,” said McLarnan. “We’re not really doing away with Steve himself. It’s the program.”
The board was asked about the recruitment efforts that take place each year for each program at KCCC.
