As application numbers continue to decrease for the Monmouth County Vocational School District (MCVSD) academies, the Communications High School (CHS) administration and Student Government Association (SGA) have reached out to students’ home districts to promote the district’s technical education programs. They’ve been met with mixed results.
Speculation over whether districts are purposefully omitting the promotion of career academies begs the question of whether CHS is losing prospective students due to a lack of awareness.
On average when 74 students were surveyed from December 15th to 20th, a mere 23% of students had heard about CHS directly from their home district, demonstrating a bit of uncertainty among districts to promote MCVSD.
Current Student Government Association (SGA) president and senior Shawn Ribeiro of West Long Branch provides a potential reason for hesitation.
“Sending districts have to pay for their students to come here, which hurts the application pool significantly,” Ribeiro said. “While I understand they don’t want to pay, I think it’s important students are aware of their options.”
Another potential factor for some schools is the risk of losing high SAT and other standardized test scores. With national proficiency in math and evidence-based reading and writing on the decline, it is suggested that districts may wish to keep their brightest students to boost their standardized testing scores.
“I think test scores are a huge factor for districts not sending students,” said junior and SGA council member Sofie Grodman of Sea Bright. “A lot of vocational students would have been top 10% at their home high school, and by losing those students, test scores will drop at their home school.”
District responses also raise the question of whether schools are obligated to educate students on their options.
“I don’t believe it’s ethical for schools not to tell their students about alternative high schools,” Grodman said. “Coming to CHS has changed my life, and it’s so important for everyone to have that opportunity.”
Ribeiro agreed with Grodman’s outlook, sympathizing with those who are being blocked from gaining those opportunities.
“High school is such an important four years of their life, and it’s important that kids get the most out of their experience and go to the school that most speaks to them,” Ribeiro said. “It’s sad to think kids are missing out on our school just because they’re uninformed.”
Despite a lack of cooperation between MCVSD academies and sending districts, the SGA is still working hard to raise CHS awareness. The duty, however, of exposing middle schoolers to the vocational programs should lie with students’ home districts, not with the students of CHS.
Ribeiro shared his take on potential solutions
“From an SGA perspective, [we try to] make sure that our info sessions are as engaging as possible,” he said. “That’s the best way that we can improve the application numbers.”
CHS as a whole is difficult to describe through just words. When prospective applicants can experience the school firsthand, it is far more illustrative of the environment that it’s cultivated.
“My favorite part about CHS is the people because the tests make it so that you are surrounded [by] like-minded people, [despite] everyone being vastly different,” sophomore Zachary Benner of Tinton Falls said. “You just don’t have that at public schools.”
