EVIT superintendent beams as enrollment soars

Aug. 25—At a time when many East Valley school superintendents confront continuing enrollment declines, Dr. Chad Wilson confronts a very different kind of challenge:

Planning for the continuing increase in the number of high school juniors and seniors who are flocking to the East Valley Institute of Technology, where he has been superintendent since 2019.

With few exceptions — including Queen Creek Unified and Higley Unified — demographers have painted a gloomy outlook for student enrollment in the region's districts — including some of Arizona's largest public school systems.

But students — and even adults looking for a career change — keep on coming to EVIT and its more than three dozen career and technical education programs.

This year alone, EVIT is counting 5,741 students, mostly juniors and seniors who split their school day between their high school and one of EVIT's two Mesa campuses.

That's nearly a 20% increase over EVIT's 2022-23 student count — and well above the 3,828 students who were on campus when Wilson was named superintendent by the EVIT Governing Board.

Indeed, so many students are attending its primary campus on Main Street near Dobson Road that a parking problem looms in the not-so-distant future.

"We're going to run short on parking before we run out on classroom space," said Wilson.

"We're going to have to do something," he continued. "We'll be able to kind of figure out a way to get through this year but at some point we're going to have to look at additional parking space but also ways in which students can get on and off campus in downtown Mesa."

EVIT draws its high school students from 11 districts as far south as J.O. Combs in Pinal County and as far north as Cave Creek.

Many of those districts also have CTE programs, though none have the variety EVIT offers.

Its biggest feeder districts are the three biggest school systems in the East Valley.

Mesa Public Schools has 1,134 juniors and seniors taking EVIT classes either in the morning or afternoon; Chandler Unified has 817 and Gilbert Public Schools sends 779, according to EVIT.

But other East Valley districts have a fair share of their students trekking either to downtown Mesa or EVIT's other campus on Power Road next to Arizona State University's Polytechnic campus.

Tempe Union sends 528 students to EVIT, Queen Creek Unified's 306 students exceed the 284 who come from Higley Unified and the 240 who come from Scottsdale Unified.

And in all cases, those numbers are increasing for what Wilson sees as three main reasons.

One reason is EVIT's shift in marketing to students by focusing on junior high and middle schools rather than high school sophomores.

Wilson said it wasn't too long after his appointment that he realized that by "by the time a student is finishing their sophomore year...their kind of game plan to get through high school has already been created and it's really hard to change."

"So, our thought process was to get into younger grades," he said, "and start talking about career development, CTE in general."

Perhaps an even bigger reason is a rethinking about the future among many high school students — particularly as the cost of a college or university education continues hitting new heights.

"As a state and as a country, I think we have begun to shift our thinking around the idea that college is great but college isn't necessarily the only career pathway," Wilson explained.

"I think that more people are beginning to have that realization and realize that you can make a great income and have a quality of life through some of the programs that we offer."

Ironically, the pandemic reinforced that thinking, Wilson believes, citing COVID-19 as the third driver of EVIT's growing enrollment.

At the same COVID and virtual learning hammered public school enrollment, Wilson believes it showed many kids the importance of various essential services that produced the everyday heroes of the pandemic.

"I think what people began to realize is the work that we do, the programs we offer, in many ways form the backbone of our country — it's the backbone of the American dream," Wilson said.

"I think when you see the health sector, the first responders, the industrial trades, the mechanics, the plumbers, the HVAC industry — all those industries had to still keep America running. And I think that created a sense of an awareness that maybe wasn't there before."

Three of the five programs that draw the most students at EVIT support that theory.

While cosmetology is tops with 816 students, the next three highest enrollment numbers are in medical assistant with 646, automotive technology with 412 and welding with 367. Rounding out that top-five list is veterinary assistant with 305.

The rest are scattered across a diverse and broad array of programs like digital-related fields, early childhood education, interior design and culinary arts, to name a few.

As he looks to a future of continuing enrollment increases, Wilson and his team, along with the EVIT board, are strategizing how the two campuses will accommodate the influx while also meeting the needs of tomorrow's economy.

Partly that includes looking at future labor demands and offering courses that will satisfy them.

For example, Wilson said, "In our welding program, one of the things we knew was going to be needed here in the valley was with all the semiconductor work and business that is coming.

"We knew that orbital welding was going to be a component that was needed in that industry, and we didn't offer orbital welding. When we realized that that was going to be a needed aspect of workforce development within the Valley, we brought orbital welding into our welding program."

EVIT also has partnered with the Superstition Fire and Medical Rescue Department to start a firefighting training program that will help smaller rural fire departments.

Wilson said he's also looking at ways to get more out of the downtown Mesa complex by extending program offerings in the late afternoon since the high school programs usually end by 2:30 p.m.

"That doesn't mean we can't run another high school program from, say 3:30 to 5:30," he said.

"If we look at it that way, then all of a sudden we've added another thirds of space because we'll be utilizing space with more hours than we historically have had."

Buoyed by legislation signed by former Gov. Doug Ducey, EVIT also is planning to soon start offering associate degrees in some programs, creating the potential for more adults of all ages who need a two-year degree in a more technical field.

With the first such associates program due to start in January, Wilson believes such programs will attract "individuals that are wanting to up-skill or individuals that are underemployed and want to get employed at a higher opportunity. That's what that programming will be for."

Wilson said he and the board are also mindful of the consequences of growth, asking themselves, "If we grew 1,000 students on the high school side and another 1,000 in the same year on the adult side, will our system be able to handle it?"

He's confident EVIT will, especially on the adult side.

"As we roll into the next year," he said, "that's when we're going to really start seeing our adult education numbers increase as well."