Tri-Tech to offer high schoolers 2 new programs and more with $45M from WA Legislature
Tri-Cities high school students will be able to get a jump on two new careers thanks to $45 million approved by the Washington Legislature this session.
The money will create hands-on learning in the fields of pre-pharmacy and heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration systems (HVAC-R).
And the Kennewick School District’s aging 43-year-old facility will undergo a major modernization project.
Tri-Tech Skills Center is a tuition-free technical and professional training academy that serves all Tri-City students ages 16-20 who have yet to receive their high school diploma. About 1,000 students are enrolled in the school, spending half their days at the center and the other half taking classes at their high schools.
Students at Tri-Tech are paired with instructors with years of industry experience and knowledge, and are regularly placed in job shadows, internships and clinics throughout their time in the program. The goal is to graduate students with work-place relevant skills that give them a leg up in the job market.
The campus offers 20 different career-connected programs, including auto body and systems technology, broadcasting, computer science, construction trades, culinary arts, cosmetology, pre-nursing, early childhood education, digital arts and film making.
School officials told the Herald in a statement that the 66,000-square-foot facility needs energy and safety code upgrades and to be reorganized to serve current programs.
Maintenance costs over the last decade have required significant investments from the Kennewick School District, and they continue to rise. Since 2016, more than $375,000 has been spent on HVAC repairs, roof patches and fire sprinkler system repairs alone.
“These dollars, while necessary, are resources Tri-Tech Skills Center is not able to spend on program development — limiting equipment replacement, technology and furnishing upgrades,” Kennewick staff wrote in their capital project request to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Modernization of Tri-Tech’s main building is part of a larger multi-year effort by the district to expand the campus as interest in non-traditional classwork grows.
In September, the school opened a new 9,500-square-foot, single-story building that included two new classrooms, a shop, lab, exam room and a kennel for pre-veterinary and pre-electrical programs.
Between 2027-29, construction of two 16,000-square-foot buildings will begin on the east side of campus, according to previous Herald reporting.
The money for Tri-Tech was included in the 2024 supplemental capital budget passed by the Washington Legislature last week.
The budget allocates $1.3 billion in new construction spending for projects all over the state, including investments in the Housing Trust Fund, grants for community behavioral health projects and investments to expand affordable childcare access.
The school’s $45 million was the largest single allocation passed for the 8th Legislative District this session.
Other projects include $235,000 for an emergency communications radio microwave, $240,000 to the Port of Benton, $174,000 to renovate the Children’s Developmental Center and $3 million for the HAPO Center in Pasco.
