SANDPOINT — On the south side of Sandpoint High School, construction crews are raising the frame of what is destined to become the future of technical education in North Idaho. 

The Lake Pend Oreille School District’s new Career Technical Education Center will provide a customized and larger home for four existing programs at SHS — residential carpentry, sports medicine, computer network support and nursing assistance — with room to expand, according to LPOSD’s Chief Financial and Operations Officer Brain Wallace. 

Alex Gray, CTE director at SHS, said the building will be revolutionary for the programs involved, which will now have permanent homes. He said that classes like the Health Professions class were being taught in a converted broom closet due to lack of space. 

"Our certified nursing program will now have a proper spot for four to five beds with sinks in between, like you would have at regular medical facility,” Gray said. “There will be storage that we do not currently have for medical supplies, everything from gloves to PPE wear that they have.” 

Wallace said that CTE teachers had input in the design of the building and that the architects drew inspiration from a visit to the Kootenai Technical Education Campus. He said that the building will also free up space inside SHS, which will allow them to accommodate the growing enrollment at the school. 

The $4.9 million building is primarily funded by a $3.5 million Idaho Career Ready Students grant from the Idaho Department of Education, Wallace said. He said that although public funds were used, the building would not exist without the state grant. 

"Our school district is thankful to Governor Brad Little and Superintendent Debbie Critchfield for launching this impactful program two years ago,” LPOSD Superintendent Dr. Becky Meyer said. “CTEC will empower our region to develop and expand much-needed workforce training opportunities for youth across North Idaho.” 

When writing the grant, Gray said that the building was originally thought up as an addition to the district's headquarters in Ponderay. Gray said as he and district staff, including Meyer, rewrote the grant, it became clear the Ponderay location was not the best for the new center. 

Wallace said that after discussions with SHS staff about the ease of access and lower transportation required, the district decided to move it to SHS’s campus. He said that the building will have a keyed access door connecting it to the main high school building, but the goal was to have it be a separate building for CTE students. 

Throughout the process, Gray said that the big picture idea of bringing more opportunities for CTE courses to the area never changed. 

“It’s been super exciting to be able to plan appropriate space to house these programs,” Gray said. “They’re already successful, I can’t imagine what they are going to do with more than adequate space, a spectacular facility.”