Local educational agencies in Sonoma County have been awarded more than $9 million in Golden State Pathways Program dollars to help students prepare for and pursue college and career opportunities post-high school.
The Sonoma County Office of Education, which acted as a lead agency in pursuit of a consortium grant, played a major role in encouraging and assisting school districts throughout the application process.
According to Louis Ganzler, assistant superintendent of School Culture and Partnerships, and Sharon Ferrer, director of College and Career, the COE did this in a number of ways, including hosting informational meetings on the program and its grant types (planning, implementation and consortium); helping with data compilation for sites; creating budget spreadsheets for schools in the consortium and helping school and district leaders with other budget-related questions and concerns; and offering in-person and virtual sessions to assist interested parties in drafting their grant proposals.
“This grant is an opportunity to deliver a vision of career technical education (CTE) that provides all students in Golden State Pathways with access to early college credit and meaningful work-based learning experiences while they are still in high school. The possibilities for positively impacting students before they leave high school are tremendous,” Ganzler and Ferrer said in an email of why Sonoma COE was so passionate about securing funds for area LEAs.
Purpose
Program funds are intended to support expanded pathways to high-wage, high-skill and high-growth fields including technology, health care, education and climate-related professions in hopes that promoting student success and interest in in-demand careers will strengthen the workforce and propel economic growth.
Awardees can focus on building pathways that address local, regional or state needs. Ganzler and Ferrer said Sonoma County will focus on health care, education and green technology.
According to a press release from the COE, “this work will prioritize integrating CTE coursework with the A-G graduation requirements to attend California’s public universities.”
Ganzler and Ferrer explained why it is important to incorporate CTE coursework into A-G requirements — the minimum set of college prep courses a high school student needs to pass with a grade of C or better to apply for admission to a California State University or University of California institution as a first-time freshman.
“Students are more engaged when the curriculum feels relevant,” they said. “CTE coursework provides that relevance via an industry-focused lens that complements and builds upon the academic standards that students are learning in their core A-G classes. Our Sonoma County YouthTruth survey data shows that students who have had CTE classes and experiences score higher on many measures related to academic achievement. These include taking pride in their schoolwork, trying their best at school, being able to motivate themselves to do school work, being able to focus on their schoolwork and being able to create goals for their own learning.”
Awardees
A total of $470 million in Golden State Pathways Program consortium development, planning and implementation grant funding was awarded to 302 LEAs for fiscal year 2023–24.
Consortium development and planning grants “are to support collaborative planning between a grant recipient and their program partners in the development of high-quality college and career pathways opportunities,” according to the California Department of Education. Implementation grants “are to support a grant recipient’s ability to offer participating pupils high-quality college and career pathways opportunities.”
Sonoma COE received $1.2 million in consortium development funding that will champion collaboration between itself, other LEAs and private sector partners in developing high-quality career pathways, according to the COE.
Sonoma County schools and districts that received implementation grants include Cloverdale Unified School District ($779,600); Cotati-Rohnert Park USD ($640,000); Petaluma Joint Union High School District ($1.51 million); Santa Rosa HSD ($1.9 million); Sonoma Valley USD ($703,000); Windsor USD ($1.116 million); and Credo High School ($668,000).
As for planning grants, Santa Rosa HSD was awarded $300,000 and West Sonoma County Union HSD $200,000.
At the time of this interview in early July, Ganzler and Ferrer said they weren’t sure when they would be receiving the funds — which must be expended by June 30, 2028 — however, plans were underway on how best to spend them.
“We are providing technical and educational opportunities for the consortium schools to develop high-quality pathways and increase dual enrollment agreements,” they said. “Regional ecosystems will provide access to post-secondary opportunities for college and career readiness, particularly through our partnerships with colleges and businesses.”
Ganzler and Ferrer explained the importance of COEs taking the initiative locally in processes like this to make a difference for all students.
“A county office can help ensure equity, meaning that having these opportunities shouldn’t be a matter of luck,” they said. “We can create systems in high school that ensure all students have access to early college credit and work-based learning.”
