By Sydney Patchett
Staff Writer
Beginning August 2016, Fabrication and Design (Fab/D) will no longer be offered as a course at UC High; Monte and Terry Mansfield, the instructors since its launch/creation in 2007, must find employment elsewhere for the 2016-2017 school year.
A new program will be set in place to take advantage of the state’s Prop 1D 1.9 million dollar remodel awarded to the Mansfields’, according to Vice Principal Jo McGlin. “We are shutting down the lab to create a classroom more suitable for modern technology, featuring 3D models, high tech industry and many other aspects,” said McGlin. “It’s called a pathway completer, very similar to what the Bio Med program offers.” Also mentioned was the possibility for certification at the end of the program, but only if a student begins with the entry level class. The administration is still deciding the logistics in collaboration with new dual-enrollment classes offered next year, as well as dealing with the difficulty of finding a new Engineering teacher.
“In December 2015, Principal Jeff Olivero stated during a department meeting that if numbers were low [enrollment] during the Fab/D remodel, then we would be cut. However, when student numbers supported Fab/D, the administration then developed a plan to convert Fab/D into an Engineering program,” said Terry Mansfield, a full-time volunteer for the class. “Mr. Mansfield has over three decades of experience in the design field and had planned on retraining so we could continue at UC High. However, his experience and endless hours still didn’t qualify him for retraining in Engineering,” Terry Mansfield exclaimed.
According to the Mansfields, parents have been the sole benefactors behind keeping the program afloat, and these past years would not have been possible without their continual support. Monte Mansfield explained that the couple attended to every aspect of the remodel over the course of 18 months, even traveling extensively in hopes to research the high tech new equipment that would come with the new facility.
The decision to change the pathway from Fabrication and Design to Engineering was reached by the Site Governance Team and administration after discussion on multiple occasions, according to Olivero. “Engineering is the most marketable,” said Olivero. “A particular industry may have been fashionable or employable in one decade may not be in the next decade. This is why teachers who teach pathway courses are year-to-year teachers. There’s no longevity because the industry can change,” Olivero added.
When asked when the Mansfields were officially informed of their termination, Olivero declined to comment. “At loss, comes opportunity,” stated Olivero, “and when preparing kids for future jobs, Engineering is just more useful.”
According to the SDUSD website, both Fabrication and Design and Engineering are CCTE certified, meaning they “…provide high quality, college and career-themed programs that enrich and engage students with state-of-the-art, dynamic and challenging courses.”
“The Mansfields do so much more than just teaching teenage kids how to cut wood and paint; they prepare young adults for the future, teaching them a plethora of skills that led me, and I’m sure many others every day,” said Senior Ryan Venezuela, a former Fab D student, when informed of the cut.
Despite the Mansfields’ departure, according to McGlin, the remodel is scheduled to begin this summer and will continue until 2018.