Macomb School District 185 Superintendent Patrick Twomey said they’ve pretty well settled on building a six-classroom facility for starting a career and technical education program.
He said now they need to work with architects to hone in on the size of the structure, which will give them an idea of what it will cost to build and equip it.
“Once we know that number, we can look at our bonding capacity, we can look at alternative revenues, and really begin to put together a plan of how are you going to pay for this, exactly what it’s going to look like, and then enter the design phase then,” he said.
Twomey hopes to have all the details in place by spring. He hopes classes could begin as soon as fall 2027.
“We’re really working on keeping an aggressive schedule,” he said.
Twomey said the new facility won’t be the only place CTE classes are taught locally. There will also be classes at the new Spoon River College campus in Macomb.
Although the school district’s facility will be built on the Macomb High campus, Twomey said the classes will also be available to students from Bushnell-Prairie City and West Prairie, which are the county’s other public high schools.
“It’s a really good partnership,” Twomey said. “It’s just that we have a core of those classes we want taught on this campus (Macomb High School) to make sure our students have easier access to them.”
He said they’ll focus on fulfilling the needs of local manufacturers, including NTN Bower, Pella, and Yetter Manufacturing in Macomb, and Marshalltown in Bushnell.
He said those companies are all on board with the plan, as are the region’s healthcare providers.
Tri States Public Radio produced this story. TSPR relies on financial support from our readers and listeners in order to provide coverage of the issues that matter to west central Illinois, southeast Iowa, and northeast Missouri. As someone who values the content created by TSPR's news department please consider making a financial contribution.
