Costs and building regulations caused a venue change for an animal science lab being created at Mercedes schools and the cancellation of one of the lab’s most anticipated promised programs, administrators told the district’s board last week.
Career and Technical Education Director Debbie Lee Winslow described the project to the board back in August, presenting a plan for the relatively affordable conversion of an old farmhouse at the district’s ag farm into a unique space that would include a lecture room, a poultry incubation room, a food processing lab and a dog grooming lab — the last of which drew particular praise from the board.
Excessive costs associated with converting the farmhouse to meet city and county fire codes, along with the inability to modify the structure for handicap accessibility, make the project Winslow described in August unfeasible, she told the board.
Winslow’s new plan is to convert agricultural classrooms at the ag farm into the proposed lab.
“We’re still offering the same courses in there, and all the licenses and certifications are the same — except for we don’t have the dog grooming, and I’m sorry about that,” Winslow said, explaining that the dog grooming facility would require space and ventilation the proposed facilities do not have.
“But hopefully it’ll come later,” she said.
Showing Winslow a layout for the proposed lab, Winslow described a space that would include microscopes, poultry kennels and veterinary medicine facilities.
“We’re also gonna have the food part,” she said. “We’re going to bring the barbecue pit the ag department made and we’ll have that set up so they can learn how to cook wildlife and do all of that.”
None of the facilities being converted from the lab have flooring due to repeated flooding, Winslow explained, saying concrete floors have been cleaned and etched and will be stained, so flooring won’t have to be ripped up in the future.
“All the work done on this project so far is being done by our construction and electrical students,” she said. “They’re the ones out there doing all the work, so it’s real rewarding and … it’s what our programs are all about, is getting our kids to be the ones that are actually doing the work and making a difference. And that’s something they can be proud of.”
Students working on the project drew board praise.
“I appreciate the ownership — that you’re getting these students involved. Because one, they will take pride in the work that they do; and two, that will move on. They will … share the news to other students and even young siblings, for them to start. To join,” Trustee Lucy Delgado said.
Winslow noted that the project should be completed before her impending exit from the district.
