LCSD Career and Technical Education Director Rob Smith looks over new redesigned plans for a consolidated CTE Center for the school district.

Students in Lauderdale County School District will soon be able to take classes at the new Career and Technical Education Center as work on the facility continues to move forward.

 

Housed in the old Peavey Service and Warranty Building on Highway 11/80, the centralized building will host students from all four county campuses. Currently, each campus has its own CTE offerings for students to take.

 

Rob Smith, CTE director for LCSD, said significant progress has been made since work began at the site in September 2024.

 

“The front facade, the whole building has been reskinned. We have a new roof on it now,” he said. “The inside is getting done.”

 

With its location in the county industrial park on the east side of Meridian, Smith said the CTE Center is ideally situated to build partnerships with local industries and create new opportunities for students. Multiple businesses are located nearby, he said, including APAC, Waste Management, CarQuest, Gibson Steel and more.

 

“Right out of the front door of our center, we’re looking at major industries here in Meridian and Lauderdale County, and it just put chills up and down my back to think about the fact that we’re going to be able to do internships right out the front door of our center.”

 

The inside of the CTE Center is being divided into four sections representing four distinct career directions, Smith said. Courses taught within the sections will help prepare students for careers in those fields, he said. The sections include STEM — Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Health and Human Services; Marketing, Business and Economics; and Arts and Communication.

 

And, Smith said, there will be plenty of space to add programs and expand in the future.

 

District officials were forced to scale back their plans for the CTE Center after voters in October 2023 rejected a proposed $12.5 million bond issue to fund a more robust facility with a price tag of approximately $19 million. Instead, officials reworked their plans to use an $8 million state appropriation, some of which was previously used to purchase the building. The scaled back facility will open with fewer class offerings, with plans to grow the curriculum as funds allow.

 

A soft opening for the CTE Center is set for November. It is scheduled to be ready for full use in Fall 2026.