The Atlantic School District is looking to team-up with local businesses involved in the trade industry, to offer a Construction Technology class for the 2016-17 School Year. Derek Bair, Industrial Technology Instructor with the Atlantic High School, made a special presentation about the program during Wednesday evening’s meeting of the Atlantic School Board. Superintendent Dr. Michael Amstein said the program is in the formulative stages right now. Amstein says they’re working with local experts to establish an advisory committee to guide the program.

Amstein said the Construction Tech program will be different than an trades program that was offered a few years ago. The previous course offered concurrent college credits students who had a hands-on work experience building homes in Atlantic. The Construction Tech class would be for High School credit, only. There will also be a math component so students can earn math credit, as well. Amstein says the Construction Tech program will involve much more than focusing on the carpentry aspect of construction. He says they will also look at having hands-on experience with electrical, plumbing, HVAC and Masonry work, to provide a wider variety of experience.

In other business, Dr. Amstein said the Board discussed the District’s Athletic facilities, after receiving a brief overview on the condition of those facilities from Matt Alexander, Assistant High School Principal and Activities Director. He said “There’s not been very much work done on any of them in a long time, and he [Alexander] wanted to bring to the board’s attention that we really need to address that. Hopefully, we’ll put together an RFP [Request for Proposal] for the board to consider, to have somebody do a study on our athletic facilities.” He said one of the areas that need attention is the Trojan Bowl.

And, Amstein told the Board, Wednesday the Districts Certified Annual Enrollment is down this year by about 52 students this year. He says the decline was not unexpected. That’s because this year’s Senior Class is small, only 90, as compared to 127 last Fall. He said also, there were 14 Fourth grade students who either left the district after the numbers were compiled last year, or who left over the summer, which was kind of unusual. Amstein said “If our numbers hold pretty steady in kindergarten for the upcoming year, or at least pretty close to what they’ve done, we’ll make up the lion’s share of those kids, coming into next year.”