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Rep. Kelly secures $1.74 million for tech center

Rep. Robin Kelly, D-lll., has been able to secure $1,740,000 for the Southland Career and Technical Education Center proposed by local high schools and Prairie State College.

Kelly represents Homewood and Flossmoor in Congress.

The funding, designated for classroom design and curricula for career and technical education programs, was part of the community project funding included in various spending bills passed by Congress in 2022.

This is the second grant Kelly has procured for the SCTEC project. The initial nearly $200,000 grant was used for preliminary drawings for the new building, estimated to cost between $92 and $100 million.

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“Whether you want to improve your skills or expand your horizons, places like Southland Career and Technical Education Center are essential to preparing members of our community for good-paying jobs that contribute to our thriving local economy,” Kelly said. “I worked hard to bring this funding home to continue the great work that the Southland Center is proposing to do to prepare students for the careers of today and tomorrow.” 

Homewood-Flossmoor High School District 233 is a member of the cooperative that will operate the tech center, along with Rich Township District 227, Crete-Monee District 201-U, Bloom Township District 206, Thornton-Fractional District 215, Southland College Prep and the SPEED Cooperative and Prairie State College. These organizations will serve as the SCTEC board and would be responsible for hiring the career center’s first superintendent who would carry out the organizing plans.

The regional center is expected to draw from the 10,000 students in the founding high schools. The facility would be open to residents for technical training after regular school hours. The career center would be built on the site of Rich East High School in Park Forest. District 227 closed the school in 2021. The building would be demolished and the district would donate the 50-acre site. 

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