Canadian Valley Technology Center turns away hundreds of students due to lack of space
EL RENO, Okla. (KFOR) – As KFOR has reported, Oklahoma colleges like OU, OSU, UCO and Rose State are experiencing record enrollment right now.
But one school said it had to turn away hundreds of students this year because of the lack of space at their campuses.
‘We’re all Bronchos together’: UCO welcomes new President, new students to campus
The Superintendent at Canadian Valley Technology Center said 1,200 students were enrolled in various CVT programs this semester, but the school had to turn away 600 students because they didn’t have enough space.
“I feel very fortunate. I know that only like a select number of people came here and one of my friends actually, he got turned and I was just I felt so lucky that that wasn’t me. And I got to be here and doing what I want to do,” said Gavin Unrein, student at Canadian Valley Technology Center.
Unrein said the school is already hard enough to get into, so he is happy he was accepted into the school that offers hands-on experience.
But with the school at capacity, he said his auto service technology classroom is full.
“It definitely gets crowded… Sometimes it gets to be a little much. You have people like a million people. It feels like I’m the child working on cars, and it feels so crowded and busy,” said Unrein.
Andy Coates believes he “screwed up” college football
Superintendent Dr. Gayla Lutts said the Canadian County population is growing around the school and they are having a tough time keeping up with demand.
“Canadian Valley is a district that serves 14 standing schools. So, we span from Piedmont North all the way down to Rush Springs. We have Mustang and Yukon, which are really large success schools and Piedmont is growing like crazy. Between 2010 and 2020, Canadian County grew 33.6% and during that time in 2013,” said Superintendent Dr. Gayla Lutts, Ed.D at Canadian Valley Technology Center.
In hopes to solve that issue, a $75 million bond to add facilities, educators and programs to the school’s campuses was approved by the school board in April. Now it’s up to the voters on September 12.
“Basically for a homeowner or taxpayer for $100,000 home, it would cost $2.50 a month, which is less than a cup of coffee,” said Dr. Lutts.
Another student, Preet Damani said he is one of the lucky ones and is thankful he got a spot with smaller class sizes.
“My senior class has about 12 people in our class, and that is very nice because the teacher is able to go out and make sure everybody’s on task… We are the future. And so just to have us all unite as one and go out and be the best to ourselves, it’s really great to be one of the leaders who gets to help students succeed in that,” said Damani.
The reason the school cannot accept more students is because of the capacity and limits that are set by the state for safety regulations. The bond would add enough space for them to be able to accept more students.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
