What you need to know
CCISD’s culinary arts program is a “three year course sequence that provides job specific training needed for entry level culinary and food service positions,” according to the district’s website.
The project to bring a culinary program to Clear Lake High School will consist of replicating the program offered at Clear Springs High School. The project will eventually allow students to gain insight into the operation of a well-run restaurant including management, planning, staffing and controlling a variety of food service operations, according to the district’s website.
The CTE culinary arts program would be built in the Learner Support Center where the district’s catering facilities are currently located. This would also allow students at Clear Lake High School to partner with the district’s nutritional department, and get involved in day-to-day activities with CCISD’s catering department, CTE Director Dana Morgan said at the workshop.
Once students enter advanced courses in the program, they could be hired as part-time employees in CCISD’s catering department, Morgan said.
The projected costs to build out the program is $2.5 million. The project will begin Nov. 18 with a request to the board for capital funding, according to district documents.
Besides Clear Lake High School, every high school at CCISD has at least two CTE programs. Clear Lake High School only has one, which is a biomedical program, district documents show.
Currently, CCISD has the following CTE programs at the following high schools:
- Clear Brook: robotics and computer technician
- Clear Creek: construction technology, metal manufacturing and dental
- Clear Falls: biotechnology and computer technician
- Clear Lake: biomedical
- Clear Springs: automotive technology and culinary
- Clear View: certified nurse assistant, cosmetology and welding
Over 120 students across the district applied to be in the culinary arts program at Clear Springs High School for the 2024-25 school year, but the program capacity is 60 students, according to a presentation by the district.
What they said
Clear Lake High School Principal Elizabeth Raska said biomedical science, the only program offered at Clear Lake High School, requires students to complete advanced science and math courses before entering high school.
“There’s no opportunity for a student at Clear Lake High School who is not college-bound prior to entering high school to enter a speciality CTE program unless they travel to another campus,” Raska said at the workshop. “With the demographic shift that we have seen in the Clear Lake community over the last five to 10 years, the majority of our students who need a skills-based program do not have access to one.”
Multiple board members, including board vice president Jonathan Cottrell, said they were looking forward to seeing the CTE culinary arts program come to fruition at Clear Lake High School.
“This is definitely something that the community will embrace,” Cottrell said at the workshop. “This is what it’s really about is giving the kids more opportunities within the district. It’s an industry that they’ll learn a lot.”
Going forward
CCISD has the following projected timeline to add the CTE culinary arts program to Clear Lake High School:
- Nov. 18: Request capital funding from the board
- Nov. 19: Coordinate contract with architect
- Dec. 3: Permit submission
- Feb. 24: Board considers award for construction contract
- July 31: Substantial completion date
