School board commissioner Dr. Kenneth T. Whalum presented fellow members with a resolution proposing a feasability study for a high school for law enforcement careers. The measure got an enthusiastic nod.  Whalum talks to Dr. Freda Williams (right) and Dr. Sharon Webb. (Photo by Tyrone P. Easley)

At Tuesday’s school board meeting, Commissioner Kenneth T. Whalum Jr. presented the first of several resolutions that he hopes will lead to  vocational high schools that  prepare graduates for employment.

Board members agreed to a feasibility study for a law enforcement careers high school. Collaborative partnerships with Memphis police, Shelby County Sheriff’s office, and “other public and private employers of security personnel” will be explored.    

Whalum cited a projected demand for several areas of law enforcement, including corrections, security, public safety, police, and sheriff’s deputies in the next several years.

“Security guard positions are expected to increase 27 percent in Tennessee by the year 2014,” said Whalum. “In Shelby and Fayette Counties, the average annual job openings for police and sheriff’s patrol officers are projected at 50, with a projected average annual wage of $50,000. We must help prepare our young people to make a living. The reality is that they will not all go to college.”

Whalum stated in the resolution that law enforcement is a “field that students may enter immediately following high school or after pursuing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree.”

According to Whalum, subsequent resolutions will be presented. Feasibility studies will be proposed for additional high schools with a focus on firefighting careers, medical careers, and public service and diversity.

Resolutions for future vocational high schools may be on the horizon in banking and finance, the teaching professions, dance, and instrumental music, said Whalum.

In other board business, the school attorney told board members there had been no response by the city’s attorney to several written correspondences regarding the controversial reduction of school system’s proposed budget.

General counsel Dorsey E. Hopson said that during a recent meeting state officials detailed specific instances of cities withdrawing school funding and the aftermath.

“In every case, the city had to change its course,” Hopson said.

Two lawsuits are pending in connection to the City Council’s decision to reduce the school board’s proposed budget by nearly $70 million dollars. A hearing on the first is scheduled for July 17.