LICKING COUNTY -- One of Ohio's top rated career technical education centers faces deep cuts if a fourth levy request fails in May.
With or without a new levy, C-TEC Licking County needs to cut $1.6 million dollars from its budget. That equals 20 jobs and two education programs.
The school has been operating on a 2-mill levy since 1976 and wants voters to approve a 1-mill increase to generate $3.8 million annually.
If it fails, another $1.7 million must be cut.
"Most of our programs are stuff that we'll always need. Like medical programs, we'll always need people in the medical industry. We'll always need people cutting hair," said Kimberly Wyscarver.
Wyscarver is a senior at the Career and Technology Education Center in Newark. She is in the final months of finishing her cosmetology training and will graduate high school in May.
C-TEC high school students in Licking County rank first among their peers in Ohio Graduation Testing passage. But drastic cuts could make it more difficult to achieve their career goals.
"Here you get actual hands on experience, like the things you need. Whereas in a regular high school you're just sitting at a desk looking at a book," said Taubreyaunia Courson, also a senior at C-TEC Licking County.
Most of the students who graduate from the center go on to work in the local community.
Senior Kenny Copley studies electricity. He says the experience students gain is invaluable to the local economy.
"At my job, there's been quite a few tasks that my instructors would say do you know how to do this, can we trust you? And I can say yes," Copley said.
Outside of C-TEC, students face fees of up to $30,000 for similar training and education. The hope is that voters can dig deep to come up with $30 more a year to keep the student's dreams alive.
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