There are fairly decent jobs paying $15 to $23 an hour in the growing Northern San Joaquin Valley distribution center economy that are a tad challenging for employers to fill.
Forklift operators are in demand. Many warehouse operations have no issue considering the hiring of someone without experience assuming they have one thing in their resume — the successful completion of a basic forklift training class and certification.
It is why the Manteca Unified Adult School offers such a class. It is all part of the state-funded Delta Sierra Regional Alliance. The consortium involving Delta College and adult schools in the region is tasked with providing low-cost career technical education classes to adults who are looking to develop or advance their employment skills.
It is just one way that Manteca Adult School today is different than what existed in the 2009-2010 fiscal year before Great Recession triggered budget cuts occurred.
Seven years ago, Manteca Adult School had 4,712 unduplicated students.
When the state budget cuts came, Sacramento gave local districts the ability to “sweep” state funds previously designated for adult schools into supporting basic kindergarten through 12th grade programs. A number of districts opted to do just that.
“Given the pressing cutbacks and the ability to sweep previously designated Adult School funds, it would have been easy for Manteca Unified to simply cut the program that provides service to our adult community,” noted Manteca Unified Adult School Principal Diane Medeiros.
What the district did instead was cut enrichment classes and focused entirely on adult classes needed to earn a high school diploma as well as English Language Learner classes.
And instead of three semesters — fall, spring, and summer — they dropped down to just offering classes in the fall and spring semesters.
English as a Second Language classes had 984 students the last time there were three semesters in the 2008-2009 school year. That number dipped to 257 by the 2013-2014 school year and popped up to 524 last school year. Student enrollment in the current fall semester means by the end of the school year the district could easily exceed 600 ESL students.
Similar trends occurred in classes needed for a diploma as well as for career technical education (CTE) students. There were 449 that took elementary basic and secondary education classes last year compared to 2,630 in 2008-2009. Enrollment in CTE classes bounced back up to 238 last year after hitting 1,098 seven years ago.
Altogether, there were 1,211 unduplicated students last year or a fourth of the 2008-2009 levels.
The core programs for ESL and to obtain a high school diploma never disappeared and are growing in students.
The other offerings — from career technical courses to the beginning of a collaboration with El Concilo and Delta College to develop and Early Childhood Education Program — are part of a refocused effort to provide job skills that can land jobs in fields that are in high demand.
Other CTE courses besides forklift basics offered through Manteca Adult School to improve a student’s employability in manufacturing and logistics include basic and intermediate welding classes, powered aerial platform training and certification as well as OSHA safety training. The adult school is currently developing classes that support the logical career pathway while continuing to offer computer technical classes including Microsoft Office Specialist Program and medical terminology coursework.
There are also three Delta College classes that support the transition of adult from adult education programs to community college that meet on the adult school campus at the Manteca Unified district office complex at Louise Avenue and Airport Way. They are English 79 and Math 80 designed for adults that want to prepare for more rigorous study at the community college level. There is also English 1A. It is a transfer level class in college freshmen English composition.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com