Durant Kiamichi Tech Center and the Durant School District are working together to have more high school students enrolled at KTC.
Scott Lowrance, Durant KTC campus director, spoke during a recent meeting of the Durant Board of Education and said he has been working with Durant Superintendent Mark Moring.
“He’s an advocate for career tech and we’re going to make some changes in order to get more students out there,” Lowrance said.
Plans include bringing students to the KTC campus in the mornings and they are working to change time frames for classes in order to get more Durant students involved with KTC, according to Lowrance.
“Now, the good part is, with our seven programs that we have, we’re adding three programs for next year,” Lowrance said. “We added cosmetology which will be a full-time program.”
The cosmetology program will have slots in the mornings and afternoons and Lowrance said it is part of KTC’s plan to recruit more female students.
“When I walked on campus, I could tell you the first thing I said in my first meeting with my staff was we need a more female-oriented program,” Lowrance said. “We were a male-dominated program.”
According to Lowrance, that is why KTC added cosmetology and a second year of pre-nursing. Biotechnology has been added as well.
KTC is in the process of completing a grant with the Southern Oklahoma Development Association (SODA) that will allow them to construct a building for two more trade industry programs, according to Lowrance.
It’s all part of the goal to put more Durant students in KTC.
“Your superintendent has really worked hard in order to make some of those changes happen,” Lowrance said. “We’ve met more than I’ve met with any other superintendent in order to make this happen.”
Lowrance said students have a 98 percent completion rate with 95 percent positive placement.
“The students that graduate will go into a job in that field,” he said.
KTC is serving 57 Durant High School students in the 2024-2025 school year, according to Lowrance.
“Both Mr. Moring and I believe that number can improve,” Lowrance said.
Moring said these are brand-new ideas and that he is excited to be working with Lowrance.
School board member Joyce Northcutt said, “All of our kids aren’t meant to go to college and so we’ve always pushed them that way, but I’m so glad that you’re so involved in it and I know that Mark is too.”
Paul Buntz, vice president of the school board, expressed support for KTC.
“A lot of your jobs are higher paying than the college jobs,” he said.
Also during the meeting, contracts for the 2025-2026 school year were renewed for the following principals: Cheryl Conditt, DHS; Josh Perrin, DMS; Aaron McCoy, DIS; Valerie Crabtree, GW; Taylor Downs, NWH; Maegan Morgan, WI, and Lisa Whitley, REL.
The following assistant principal contracts were renewed: Torrey Gaines, DHS; Amber Bullard, DHS; James Pratt, DMS; Carrie Gosnell, DIS; Vicky Wood, GW, and Mellissa Sherrer, NWH. The contract for DHS Dean of Students Todd Vargas also was renewed.
Employment of the following personnel was approved for the 2024-2025 school year: Beth Bean, principal for Choctaw Nation POSSE 2025 school session with Maegan Morgan as assistant principal; Tonya Burgess, nurse/ secretary for POSSE program; Terry Dupree, assistant golf coach at DHS; Hailie McGinnis, special education teacher assistant at WI, and Keith Milligan, transportation employee.