Springfield Clark County JVS Adult Technical Center has closed, effective June 30, 2007, and merged operations with Clark State. No new class registrations will be performed at JVS.

For more information contact Lisa Dunn at Clark State - 937.328.6123.

Career-oriented adult education will no longer be offered through the Springfield-Clark County Joint Vocational School starting July 1.

The school is discontinuing its Adult Technical Center program and consolidating its training services with Clark State Community College. About 450 students enroll each year in the center, which offers training for fields such as firefighting, nurse assisting, dental assisting and precision machining.

Positions for about 50 part-time instructors and three program coordinators will be eliminated at the JVS, but many of those positions may be picked up by Clark State, JVS Superintendent Randall Richardson said.

"I think the merge is going to be good for everybody because it's going to allow more people to get started toward an associate degree," Richardson said.

The change is a response to a legislative proposal that would affect Adult Technical Centers in joint vocational schools across the state. House Bill 199 would switch authority of the centers from the Ohio Department of Education to the Ohio Board of Regents, which oversees the state's colleges. If the legislation passes, the transition would be complete by July 2008.

"All indications that we have heard is that it's going to pass and it's going to happen, so we need to get prepared for it," Richardson said.

Clark State President Karen Rafinski said the college and JVS have been working together for more than two years to plan the consolidation, which will eliminate the duplication of effort and reduce expenditures for the services.

Training now will be based at the college's Brinkman Educational Center downtown, the WorkPlus Center, Clark County Literacy Center and the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. Some classes in welding, health care and machine trades will continue to be located in JVS facilities, Richardson said.

Cutting the program will save the JVS about $1.5 million per year, Richardson said. The JVS is considering spending the money to offer new programs in computational science and turf and landscape management.