On Tuesday, May 24, Shasta College was awarded an $18.13 Million award over five years from the Regional K-16 Education Collaboratives Grant Program. North State Together, sponsored by the Shasta College Foundation and the McConnell Foundation, is named the convener and will carry out the grant’s goals. This award will enable North State Together (NST) to expand the scope of its collective impact work across our entire North State region. Funds will expand North State Together from its current five counties composed of Shasta, Tehama, Trinity, Modoc, and Siskiyou to a ten-county collaborative including Butte, Glenn, Lassen, Plumas, and Sierra counties.
This grant will enable the NST collaborative to increase college and career readiness, post-secondary enrollment, and post-secondary completion among students in all K-12 districts throughout the region. A specific focus of the grant is to expand occupational pathway programs in the high-demand healthcare and education sectors and further partnerships with regional community colleges, CSU Chico, and UC Davis. These pathway selections were made based on labor market data indicating they are among the fastest-growing fields and those that pay a livable or higher wage for the region.
On the announcement of the award, Superintendent/President Dr. Joe Wyse had this comment, “We are incredibly thankful to be selected for this significant award, and we are excited for the investment it represents in our region’s students and occupational workforce. It is through strong partnerships with many participating institutions that made this application a success.” Wyse concluded with a note of thanks to all involved in the grant, “I would like to thank all who contributed significant time and effort to ensure the success of the K-16 grant application, including our community partners that have worked alongside North State Together for many years now to promote collective impact and best position our region for this opportunity.”
Shasta College submitted an application on April 29 for this competitive grant through the Office of Public School Construction in collaboration with North State Together. This grant program results from the 2021 Budget Act, which allocated $250 Million to the Department of General Services and is administered through the Foundation for California Community Colleges. The grant’s focus is to promote K-16 education collaboratives that create streamlined pathways from high school to post-secondary education and into the workforce. Shasta College will act as the lead agency representing the North State region to carry out the goals of the grant.
