PERU — ADK P-TECH will be phased out, ending a highly praised program that lets students take specialized paths to two-year college degrees and specialized job skills.

“Over the years, there have been several successes as well as challenges, but overall it has been determined that it would be best to phase out the program,” Interim Principal Cynthia Ford-Johnston said in a letter to parents.

“This was a very difficult decision.”

The grant funding for the program is running out, and local schools can’t provide the needed financial support, leaders say.

The Adirondack sector of Pathways in Technology Early College High School was founded in 2013 to help local students gain experience to enter high-demand, high-skill and high-wage jobs.

It currently has 60 enrolled students from the Beekmantown, Peru, Plattsburgh and Saranac school districts.

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Clinton degree

The P-TECH 9-14 Model is a public-private partnership with a total of 56 locations across the nation and in Australia.

The program targets students who are at risk of not completing high school, not enroll in a college program or who may struggle to afford a higher education.

ADK P-TECH students have attended their first three years of classes at Peru High School, and for years five and six, they take courses at the Clinton Community College campus, where they earn an Associate of Applied Science degree by their sixth year.

The program has a heavy focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) studies and programs, include computer information systems, mechanical technology, electrical technology and others.

During ADK P-TECH, students complete high school and college courses, work with field specialists and gain the experience to immediately enter the workforce.

Partnering businesses — Bombardier, ETS, Nova Bus and others — offer preferential hiring to ADK P-TECH graduates.

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“Not lack of want”

Teri Calabrese-Gray, Champlain Valley Educational Services assistant superintendent for instruction and 21st-century affairs, said lack of funding is one factor in the decision.

“This was a seven-year grant,” she said. “We only have two years remaining on the grant, and with the current fiscal climate, it’s very difficult for them (area schools) to free up money for additional funding.”

With the grant’s impending end and current school budgets leading to potential cuts, Calabrese-Gray said area schools are unable sustain the six-year commitment needed for ADK P-TECH.

“It’s not out of lack of want, but it’s out of need.”

She said another challenge with the program was getting eighth-grade students to also commit to the program’s six years.

They are young, and many of them do not want to leave their friends, she said.

“It’s a great program. It’s unfortunate.”

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Offering choices

Ford-Johnston said a course of action must be created and approved by the New York State Education Department to end the program.

“I, along with CVES administration, are in the process of developing a plan to submit on how to do this with minimal impact on students,” she said in her letter to parents.

ADK P-TECH is giving the classes of 2020 and 2021 — current college freshmen and high school seniors — the option to either complete their associate degree as intended or graduate with a high school diploma.

Calabrese-Gray said they feel compelled to give the students what they promised, but unfortunately cannot offer the same to the younger students.

Current high school freshmen and sophomore students in the program are being asked to step away from ADK P-TECH and return to their districts to continue earning their high school diploma.

“I’m not going to say it will be easy,” Calabrese-Gray said, “but it will be easier for them to transition than it would be for somebody who is a lot further in the program.”

“We didn’t do what we said, but at the same time, we don’t have enough funding to complete the program with them.”