By Uy Pham
On Sept. 13, 2022, the Huntington Beach Union High School District (HBUHSD) Board of Trustees voted unanimously to pass agenda item V-A to submit a letter of intent to withdraw from the Coastline Regional Occupational Program (CROP).
In the letter sent by HBUHSD superintendent Dr. Clint Harwick to CROP superintendent Brian Dozier, Harwick expressed the desire of HBUHSD to withdraw from CROP by June 30, 2023, and expressed appreciation for the services CROP provided to HBUHSD students for many years.
Diana Carey, HBUHSD Board of Trustee and HBUHSD representative to CROP, explained the reasoning for the board’s decision.
“Contractually, we must give the CROP organization one year’s notice of intent to withdraw. We have done a cost analysis, including enrollment projections and current program participation. We understand the importance of job and career training which is critical for students’ future success,” Carey said. “However, this is an ‘Intent’ not an actual notice of withdrawal. We are continuing to work with the CROP on issues.”
On Nov. 18, 2014, the HBUHSD Board of Trustees approved a Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), an agreement of partnership between HBUHSD and CROP. In the superintendent comments of the board meeting agenda, Dr. Gregory Plutko, the superintendent at the time, recommended the board to approve the new JPA which addressed changes in California state requirements regarding distribution of funding to Regional Occupational Programs (ROP) programs and the grants that school districts received. With four other local school districts, HBUHSD approved the JPA which stated CROP’s purpose “to establish, operate and maintain a regional occupation program for providing career technical education (CTE).”
According to CROP’s website, CROP “is a career technical education provider that prepares both high school students and adults for a wide range of careers and further educational opportunities [and] partners with five school districts in Orange County to strengthen and broaden students’ educational opportunities.”
Over the past few years, the CROP program experienced several changes which influenced HBUHSD’s decision to submit the letter of intent to withdraw.
At the Sept. 13, 2022, board meeting, Dr. Harwick said, “We’ve had discussions with ROP. They are looking at a number of programs that they may change. That will allow us to continue if those changes are acceptable. Otherwise, it will give us the opportunity to withdraw.”
One of the biggest changes to the agreement between HBUHSD and CROP was the funding model that defined how school districts paid for classes.
“In a previous model, sections/courses were controlled by the CROP and if they had low student enrollment those courses would not be offered,” Dr. Rocky Murray, Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction for HBUHSD, said. “In our current model we pay for courses upfront and then advertise and recruit to fill those courses. In some instances, courses with low student enrollment continued that would have been canceled under the previous model.”
In a report provided to Baron Banner by HBUHSD, courses with low student enrollment still took place. In 2021, 15 out-of-bell classes were offered to HBUHSD students at HBUHSD high schools, with ten of these classes having less than fifteen students. The lowest out-of-bell class enrollment was three students enrolled in Baking and Pastry at Valley Vista High School.
In the new funding model, HBUHSD was still required to pay for these classes which occurred despite low student enrollment. However, six of seven in-bell classes offered at HBUHSD high schools had over twenty students enrolled.
“Anything that used to be ROP and in our bell schedule now is no longer called ROP, it’s just called the name of the class [and] technically just funded by [CROP]…[ROP] means after school and out-of-campus [classes],” Lindsey Gonzalez, guidance specialist at Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) said. “[However] there’s so few spaces and it’s really hard to get to. A lot of the time classes are in Costa Mesa or Irvine, and it makes it difficult for students to take ROP classes due to the bell schedule.
ROP classes provide several benefits to students. Most teachers are professionals in the field they are teaching. Most of the time in the class is spent in the actual field of that profession. Some classes offer opportunities to be prepared for licenses or certifications required for that field or to gain work experience through an internship in that career. Classes may meet articulation agreements with community colleges, where students gain eligibility to take higher-level classes. ROP provides opportunities for students to explore various career fields in classes not offered at FVHS or in HBUHSD.
“CROP has been beneficial because they have the ability to offer classes in areas that do not traditionally fit in the high school setting, including offering internships and career education,” Murray said. “They also offer regional classes that our students can travel to that may not be in our District, such as Administration of Justice, which is offered in Irvine Unified, or Dental Assistant Back Office, which is offered in Newport Mesa Unified.”
At FVHS, the two classes offered during the bell schedule and funded by Coastline ROP are Pharmacy Technology and Emergency Medical Responder (EMR). Both courses are beneficial for high school students who wish to prepare for licenses or certifications in their respective fields.
In the EMR class, students explore various careers in Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and important skills related to the career field. Students have the opportunity to progress to the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class and obtain EMT certification to expand further career opportunities.
“It helped me with my lifeguard job [and the class] is a good foundation to build upon. EMR is necessary for EMT, and outside of high school [EMT] is a $1000 class,” senior Niel Smith, who took an EMR class at Edison High School, said. “The class was a mix of [students from] all schools pursuing careers in EMS. I experienced a lot of simulated scenarios with dummies. I learned first aid, splinting, bandaging, patient assessment, CPR and C-spine on kids and adults [from] my teacher, a fire captain.”
In the Pharmacy Technology class, students learn about the pharmacy setting including terminology, anatomy and physiology, pharmacy law and dispensing prescriptions. Upon completion of the course with a grade higher than 70%, students can apply for the Pharmacy Technician license and work as a licensed technician in a pharmacy.
“My experience in the class was wonderful and very engaging. The information was a blend of textbook studies and academic examinations with a combination of hands-on experimentation to practice what a pharmacy technician would perform in daily operation…the teacher, Mr. Morris Sianturi, had immense knowledge in the subject,” Daren Le, who graduated from FVHS in 2022 and took the Pharmacy Technology class, said. “The class helped me attain my pharmacy technician license through hard work studying…I am very pleased with the learning experience from both the classroom and the pharmacy.”
However, without a partnership with CROP, students would no longer be able to attend classes offered at other high schools in different school districts and would be limited to courses offered within their school’s bell schedule.
In the future, HBUHSD has plans to further expand access to various CTE education pathways offered at HBUHSD high schools for students while lowering costs from the partnership with CROP.
“We would expand our Career Technical Education pathways and add courses through our Adult School, with a cost savings for our District,” Murray said. “Cost savings from the change would be allocated to increase opportunities for students based on needs and interests.”
Without a partnership between CROP and HBUHSD, Gonzalez hopes students will continue to pursue CTE education to earn certifications, internships and work experience towards their chosen careers or interests.
“I have [students] coming back to me all the time wishing they took more ROP or CTE classes. Even if you don’t love the class, it is a good experience [to] give you a good idea about your interests…I have [students] go to the veterinary class and get a real view of what it’s like to be a vet [and] it’s not just petting puppies,” Gonzalez said. “One of the greatest values is to learn what it is you like [and gain] a more expanded vision of careers within that field.”
At the time of publication, Coastline Regional Occupational Program and Tess Lubrino, Pharmacy Technology teacher, did not reply to requests for comment.
