TUSD's Sanchez addresses critical comments on automotive programs

While discussing the possibility of developing programming that would allow students to work toward advanced degrees while still in high school, Sanchez said at the Aug. 12 Governing Board meeting that “what would not be offered would be low-level, low-skill, low-paying (vocational technical) schools of the past where you’re banging on fenders and doing oil changes.”

Three days later, Sanchez reached out to TUSD's career and technical education coordinator Charles McCollum, saying that his statement was not shared in full context.

“My point to the Board was our CTE instructors take our students well beyond oil changes and basic auto body,” Sanchez wrote in an email. “Our CTE instructors share state-of-the-art methodology and technology with our students.”

During the seven-minute presentation, however, Sanchez made no mention of the work done by TUSD’s CTE instructors or the type of education TUSD students are receiving under the program.

Sanchez, a self-proclaimed “shade-tree mechanic,” went on to tell McCollum that he wished he could have learned all that TUSD students learn today from the CTE instructors.

“Again, please share my appreciation, respect, and admiration for them,” Sanchez asked McCollum.

“I know that you are in full support of our career and technical education programs and the education they provide our students,” McCollum told Sanchez.

Sanchez took a second opportunity to convey his feelings in his weekly team member update, which is sent to all TUSD employees and posted online at tusd1.org for the public.

Following a trip to Palo Verde High School where he visited the automotive shop, Sanchez wrote: "The students learn so much beyond oil changes and basic auto body repair. They learn all major components of Automotive Service Tech (ASE) certification. I own a few older cars, and I spend a lot of time adjusting the carburetor and tending to the nitrous oxide injection system. I wish I knew what the students learn in using computer-based diagnostics and how to work on modern, computer operated vehicles. Our automotive instructions provide world-class education that is a clear pathway to a great job in the automotive industry and beyond."

View the video of Sanchez's comments at the Aug. 12 Governing Board meeting above. A video of the entire meeting can be found at http://www.tusd1.org/contents/govboard/gbvideo081214.html