Celebrating 50 Years of MVCTC

08/25/2021

Montgomery County Joint Vocational School History - from the book "School Days: An Informal History of Education in Montgomery County, Ohio from 1926-1990" By Virginia and Bruce Ronald.

In April 1965, a community survey initiated by the Montgomery County Board of Education concluded that many of the school districts in Montgomery County were unable to provide students with sufficient vocational training. This was true for high school students as well as adults.

A committee formed by Dr. Kenneth Crim, then Montgomery County school superintendent, considered the matter further. In 1966, the committee urged the county board of education to assume responsibility for organizing a joint vocational district.

In 1966, the county board of education employed Dale Baughman to work with the county superintendent to develop a plan for a joint vocational school. The committee approved the plan with the provision that the county superintendent would also serve as the superintendent of the joint vocational district.

This approved plan was then forwarded to the Ohio State Department of Education for its endorsement. These events occurred during the 1966-1967 school year. With the approval of the plan by the state department and several boards of education, the Montgomery County Joint Vocational School District was formed, and its board of education was organized in November 1967.

This board of education then proceeded with plans for the construction of the facilities. In May 1968, a bond issue and operating levy were submitted to the electorate of the district, but both issues were narrowly defeated. The board authorized a second issue to be submitted at a special election that took place on June 25, 1968. This was a single, multi-purpose issue since a new law had become effective that permitted joint vocational districts to submit an issue that would provide for the construction of facilities and operating expenses. This time the voters approved the two-mill levy with a forty-four vote margin.

Later in 1968, a site consisting of about 200 acres was purchased by the board of education for $1,500 per acre. This property is located on Hoke Road, just south of Interstate 70. Initially, two buildings were constructed and are now known as the East and West Buildings.

The construction is unique in that there are no load-bearing walls, and the outside walls are made of precast concrete.

These walls were cast in Indianapolis and transported to the site by semi-trailers. It was designed as an open space school. However, with the type of construction used, that concept could be altered with little difficulty, and as this is being written, the school is about 50-50 open space versus conventional.

The school was open for adult classes in the spring of 1971 and for high school students that fall. By 1974 additional districts had voted to join the Vocational District, necessitating the construction of the South Building.

With the retirement of Dr. Crim in 1976, it was decided that the dual position of the superintendency of the Montgomery County School and the Montgomery County Joint Vocational School should be discontinued. Dr. Baughman, the director of the school since its formal organization, then became the superintendent of the school.

The seventeen members of the MCJVS board of education are appointed by the county, exempted village, and the city boards of education.

The school currently enrolls high school and adult students from the following Montgomery County school districts: Brookville, Huber Heights, Jefferson Township, Miamisburg, New Lebanon, Northmont, Northridge, Trotwood-Madison, Valley View, Vandalia-Butler, and West Carrollton. In addition, six districts of Darke County, four districts of Miami County, five districts in Preble County, and one district of Warren County are also part of the MCJVS district.

The effective tax rate for the JVS district has never exceeded 2.00 mills. Until the late 1970s, revenue was raised by this tax rate, and the money received from the state and federal governments covered all operating expenditures of the school as well as the purchase of land, construction costs, and equipment. However, the "reduction factor" as enacted via House Bill 920 made it necessary to pass a 4/10 mill levy in 1979. The current total millage is 1.98 (as of 1990).

The East Building was expanded in 1978, the West Building in 1979, and the South Building in 1986. There are currently over 400,000 square feet (more than nine acres) under roof in these three buildings. Also on the site is an aircraft hangar (the school has two planes) and two farm buildings. In 1991 the board of education purchased the Reinicke farm located directly across the road (west) from the JVS campus. The agriculture classes farm the school's 125 tillable acres.

In March 1982, a lightning-induced power surge set off a devastating fire in the East building. MCJVS staff members responded quickly to assure that classes would proceed with as few interruptions as possible. Sinclair Community College and Meadowdale High School were very cooperative in their offer of classrooms and laboratories for JVS use.

There was very little disruption of classes. Danis Construction Company moved quickly with the reconstruction work, completing the $6,000,000 project in six months, in time for students in September.

From its opening in 1971 with a total staff of 122, the program has grown to where 250 employees were needed in 1990-91.

The school, through its certified staff, offers one of the most comprehensive vocational education programs in the U.S., including fifty-four separate vocational courses in the following field of study:

Agriculture, seven courses
Business education, eleven
Health and home economics, eleven
Marketing, one
Trade and Industry, twenty-four

Included in the latter group are FAA-certified airframe and power plant program and a cluster of building trades classes from which students have constructed twenty homes.

In 1985 the school incorporated "applied academics" into the school's curriculum for most of its vocational courses. Testimony as to the quality and comprehensiveness of the school's program is provided in a recent Fortune magazine article entitled, "The New, Improved Vocational School."

The school maintains many clubs, but the students also participate in extracurricular activities at their home [partner] schools: sports, drama, music, and other activities. They receive diplomas from their local school, whose board of education has the responsibility for transporting them to the JVS.

MCJVS students have received so many awards for their demonstrated skills and other abilities at state and national contests that the school is frequently referred to as "Monopoly County JVS."

One thing about the school that students like is that each student is, in a sense, starting over. A student in business education stated this concept rather succinctly when she said: "There are no cliques or groups who run the place. It's like having a fresh start on high school."

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