The Platte County R-3 School District will ask voters to approve a plan that will rebuild Platte County High School and improve other facilities, but the Northland Career Center is not part of the project as some had hoped.
That doesn’t mean the center isn’t being addressed according to Platte County R-3 superintendent Dr. Mike Reik. The center, which is located on the same campus as Platte County R-3 High School, opened in 1980 and serves more than 450 students from several districts across the Northland.
Reik told the Platte County Citizen that talks have been going on behind the scenes for awhile about a new career center building that is much needed. The center not only serves students from the R-3 district but also every district in Platte County, with the exception of North Platte, along with North Kansas City schools, Liberty School District, Smithville School District and Kearney schools. Reik said with that many players involved, the end result shouldn’t be one district footing the bill.
“Our career center is unique in that we have roughly 450 students but only 60 to 70 of those kids are Platte County R-3 kids,” Reik said. “We don’t want our taxpayers to shoulder that burden entirely.”
Reik said the idea behind a new center would involve a new building in a new location other than the current Platte City location. The district owns land near Barry School and Pathfinder Elementary School west of Platte Purchase Drive and south of Missouri 152 Highway that would be ideal for a new building. Reik admitted it would be an extra drive for some R-3 students but would benefit all of the other districts who participate with a more centralized location near the intersection of two highways.
Reik said talks about a new career center were ongoing but like everything else, the COVID-19 pandemic put the brakes on talks. Reik hopes that when the pandemic slows down all of the players involved can get back to work.
“We were making some headway prior to COVID-19 but obviously most of our time has been devoted to reopening school and keeping school open,” Reik said.
Obviously with that many districts involved, there are many aspects to discuss like location and what the center will look like. The other question, in Reik’s opinion, is who is going to pay for it and how much goes beyond the member districts. He thinks the state of Missouri needs to step up and put forward some funding to make a new center happen. Reik said he can’t think of a better time than now to invest in workforce development.
The career center idea in the 1970s came from a partnership with the private sector led by the former Trans World Airlines company. Reik said there could be investment there as well.
“With the shortages in the skill trades this is a good time for the state of Missouri to step up and start providing some funding for these capital improvement projects,” Reik said. “We hope to look at them and private sector partners.”
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has publicly said he wants to invest public dollars into workforce development. Reik said the district has had one meeting with his office and hopes to have more when we move past the pandemic.
“We will continue to make sure they are aware of the issue and understand the role they may play,” Reik said.