Lewiston board mulls job training arrangement

The Lewiston School Board is taking steps with the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy to move into the old Lewiston High School campus on Normal Hill for a job training program.

Although the Lewiston School Board took no formal action at its Monday meeting, Superintendent Lance Hansen recommended the board consider the proposal. The board asked Hansen to start a memorandum of understanding, a tentative agreement, so the application process could begin with the Job Challenge program.

Trevor Sparrow, director of the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy in Pierce, spoke to the board about turning the old campus into a Job Challenge facility. The program is for cadets ages 17- to 21-years-old who have graduated from the Youth Challenge Academy and provides job training to enter the workforce. If approved, the Normal Hill campus would be the living quarters for the cadets and classrooms would be turned into barracks.

The board also discussed ownership of the facility with Sparrow, offering a variety of options from making a full purchase of the building to a joint deal where Job Challenge would pay for utilities and repairs. The joint operation approach is what the Idaho Youth Challenge Academy does with its facility in Pierce with the Orofino School District. The various options would have different timelines on when the program could start.

The board also asked Hansen to look into the different ownership options and the appraised value of the facility. Once the board approves the decision, Sparrow has to apply for the program.

“I am confident I will get it approved,” Sparrow said, because he’s been asked numerous times about offering the program. Many students who graduate from the Youth Challenge Academy want to return to the program. Sparrow said he reached out to former students who would be interested in a job training service and in 24 hours there were 75 former cadets who were ready to sign up.

The program would last for 10-22 weeks and he anticipates 100 graduates a year. The program is also fully funded, with 75% coming from federal funds and 25% coming from the state. The Job Challenge program could also partner with Lewis-Clark State College’s workforce training program as well as other businesses in the community.

Not only would the program offer job training but it would also teach students how to build a resume, and students would have a case manager helping them find jobs in Lewiston or wherever the student lives.

“There’s a lot of manufacturing jobs in this area that could be filled with kids coming to the area,” Sparrow said.

The campus would be closed, with no visitors for students, therefore the area would have little traffic with only the transportation to different job training areas. The building would also be staffed 24/7. He said the community in Pierce has embraced the academy there.

“It’s really important,” Sparrow said about getting community support. “We want to be a good neighbor.”

John Evans, executive director of the Boys and Girls Club of the Lewis-Clark Valley, said that the program would be a good partner for the club, which is also located on the old campus. Evans recommended that the board go forward with letting Job Challenge take over the space on the Normal Hill campus, saying that it could add regional value to the Lewiston community.

Kevin Davis, who lives in the area of the former high school, said that he had concerns with the proposal at first, but once he looked into the program and realized it would provide vocational training and job opportunities he was supportive. He also offered to help with getting information to the residents in the area with flyers, websites and starting a petition, if the board wanted.

Sparrow would also keep the Civic Theatre as part of the Normal Hill campus. He thinks that the Job Challenge program and the theater could work together to give art opportunities to the students.

School board President Brad Cuddy said having the Job Challenge program will help the community, keep the Civic Theatre in the building and help local businesses. He said it would serve the community and help young adults in the area. “(The program will) give them that extra set of tools to go out and make a living, raise a family and be a taxpayer,” Cuddy said. “It completes the cycle.”

In other business:

The board approved Hansen to enter into contract negotiations for Phase 2 of construction at the new high school on a unanimous vote.

Fifty new employees were hired for the school district and approved by the school board. The new employees meet Monday with lunch provided by the Lewiston Education Association.

Brewster may be contacted at kbrewster@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2297.