Akron Children鈥檚 Hospital is making a major investment in North High School to turn it into a health and human services career academy.
In his annual 鈥淪tate of the Schools鈥� address, Akron Superintendent David James said the hospital is pledging $250,000 鈥� with another $150,000 from in-kind donations 鈥� toward the project.
James says the decision to focus on healthcare careers came from conversations with North High students and faculty. He also notes that the district鈥檚 career-tech students have an 82 percent graduation rate -- about 13 percent higher than the general graduation rate.
鈥淲hen kids get interested in a career path, they're more likely to persist in school and move on to graduation and do something in that post-secondary world."
James says the district's goal is to eventually convert all of its high schools to career-tech academies, which will blend with the career-tech focus of Gov. Kasich's preliminary budget. He also plans to recommend that North High School be renamed for Akron Children鈥檚 Hospital.
During the speech, James also took a moment to comment on what he called a recent government 鈥渃ontroversy.鈥�
Room for foreign-born students
Citing Akron鈥檚 large Bhutanese, Burmese and other refugee and immigrant populations, James said the district will continue to provide education to all students regardless of their -- or their parents鈥� -- immigration status, race or gender identity.
鈥淚 do understand the balance between our national security and opening up our arms to help those in need. But the America I believe in can do both.鈥�
James also said he wants to see national leaders eliminate student debt and focus state testing on college readiness.
The , and the audio is below:
