Cayuga, Oakwood among Texas schools awarded career, technical education grants

Dec. 29—Cayuga and Oakwood Independent School Districts received a portion of over $54 million in grants awarded by the Texas Workforce Commission to public community, state and technical colleges, school districts and open-enrollment charter schools across the state.

Governor Greg Abbott made the announcement on Wednesday, detailing 152 grants from the Jobs and Education for Texans program. The grants will be used to purchase necessary equipment to establish or expand career and technical education programs that offer Texas students the opportunity to earn a license, certificate or post-secondary degree in fields such as nursing, welding, automotive repair and dentistry.

"Texas continues to cultivate a highly-skilled, diverse workforce through major investments in career and technical education training programs for our students," Abbott said. "Through this over $54 million in job training grants, more Texans will have the opportunity to pursue good-paying jobs in high-demand careers across the state. Texas is the land of economic opportunity, and I thank the Texas Workforce Commission for their ongoing efforts to ensure that our students can grow and thrive in our state's booming economy."

Through funding provided by the Texas Legislature and approved by the Governor every two years, TWC uses JET grants to defray start-up costs of developing career and technical education programs for qualified educational institutions. Equipment funded through JET grants must be used to train students for jobs in high-demand occupations. Through the action of the 87th Legislature and in partnership with the Texas Education Agency, TWC was allocated an additional $50 million to provide grants to eligible applicants in FY 2022.

Cayuga and Oakwood were included on the list of recipients for the JET grants, with Cayuga receiving $324,591 and Oakwood receiving $146,968. Both schools will use the funds to provide training in the occupations of welders, cutters, solderers and brazers. Other occupations and skills funded by the JET program include HVAC, automotive service, licensed vocational and registered nursing, chefs, head cooks and more.

While the amounts awarded to Cayuga and Oakwood were relatively average for schools across the board, a few districts around the state received significantly larger grants. Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District received two grants totaling just over $1.4 million, Keller ISD received three grants totaling $1.74 million and Rio Hondo ISD received two grants totaling $1.32 million.

"It's important to identify high-demand jobs, but it's critical to proactively commit resources to ensure Texans are ready to meet those workforce needs," said TWC Chairman Bryan Daniel. "JET grants represent an important investment by TWC to provide training opportunities for the high demand jobs of both the present and future."

For more information on the JET Program, visit the JET homepage or email jetgrants@twc.texas.gov.