Top officials from St. Charles Community College (SCC) came to Warren County Tuesday evening to celebrate the official adoption of two local school districts into SCC’s extended service area.SCC President Dr. Barbara Kavalier, Warren County R-III Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith and Wright City R-II Superintendent Dr. David Buck met to sign a resolution making SCC the official community college network serving the school districts.A community college’s extended service area is the broad region where a college offers programs for supplemental education or job training. That’s different than being part of a college’s taxing district, where residents pay property taxes to a college and receive discounts on tuition.The new partnership with SCC is aimed at bringing more educational and workforce development opportunities to Warren County, both for students and for local businesses. It’s also a step toward eventually bringing a technical college to the area.“This is something really to be excited about,” said Klinginsmith. “The partnership between business and education forged through this process will hopefully create long-lasting positive relationships.”The signing ceremony was held during a banquet Tuesday hosted by the Greater Warren County Economic Development Council (GWCEDC) at the Elks Lodge in Warrenton. Members of GWCEDC, along with local school district and community leaders, have been exploring plans for bringing technical training and an eventual school to the area.“The issue that we have today is that we’ve got employment opportunities for individuals in Warren County, and yet we don’t have enough of what we would call skilled workers for those jobs,” said Leon Busdieker. He is co-chair of the GWCEDC’s Warren County Technical Institute Exploratory Committee.Partnering with SCC will give local residents and businesses access to the college’s resources and experience providing industry training programs, Busdieker said. Now SCC can work with local employers to begin planning training programs that will address their needs.Once established, the goal for the technical education programs would be to act as an on-ramp to employment with a company in Warren County. Busdieker said SCC could begin offering some coursework within a year, although a physical campus is still a dream for the future.“It’s more the institution that’s doing the training. That’s where it starts,” Busdieker said. “From the state to the federal level, the focus is on teaching career skills and career employment skills.”SCC President Dr. Barbara Kavalier complimented local advocates on how motivated and organized they are in their pursuit of this collaboration.“In the 35 years I’ve had the opportunity to work in higher education in many states ... this, without a doubt, has been the most organized, clearly focused group of community and business leaders I’ve ever had the honor to work with,” Kavalier said. She later told The Record in an email, "As a community college, it is our mission to serve the community. Expanding our service area to include Warren County allows more opportunities to provide access to higher education and support a new community and its workforce. We are excited about this new partnership."Joining the SCC extended service area also means Warren County’s two major school districts are stepping away from East Central College, which is based in Franklin County. Only the area within the Washington School District will remain under East Central’s service umbrella.The change in the extended service area boundaries was requested by the Warren County and Wright City school boards in April. It needed the blessing of the Missouri Community College Association before becoming official.The change won’t have any effect on the tuition local students pay to enroll at SCC or East Central. If a technical school is eventually built in Warren County as many advocates hope, it would likely require voters to approve joining the SCC taxing district.

The top officials of three regional school systems signed resolutions adopting the Warren County R-III and Wright City R-II districts into St. Charles Community College’s extended service area. Pictured in front, from left, are R-III Superintendent Dr. Gregg Klinginsmith, SCC President Dr. Barbara Kavalier and R-II Superintendent Dr. David Buck. In back, from left, are Wayne Baker, Peggy Rodgers, Ricky Gastorf and Leon Busdieker, who are among the leaders of an effort to bring technical training opportunities to Warren County.

Record photo/Adam Rollins