Jan. 9, 2025 – Team Duval can accelerate the opening of a new automotive maintenance program at Terry Parker High School thanks in part to a more than $7.4 million state workforce grant recently awarded to the district.
The grant – known as the Workforce Development Capitalization Incentive Grant Program (Workforce CAP) – will also support dozens of other career and technical education programs throughout the district. This includes programs such as Cybersecurity at Andrew Jackson, Digital Audio Production at Ribault High School, and Biomedical Sciences at Darnell-Cookman.
Last school year, the district was awarded a more than $4.78 million Workforce CAP grant. This year’s grant is just the latest example of the district’s proactive efforts to bolster its career and technical education (CTE) programming.
“This is exactly why we pursue and apply for these grants,” said Jill Fierle, the district’s CTE director. “Thanks to the Florida Department of Education, we can enhance our CTE programming across our schools and ensure Team Duval students have access to robust, hands-on, career readiness programs that prepare them to excel in the workforce and/or post-secondary education.”
Fierle shared that the automotive program at Terry Parker is particularly a big win for the district.
“This grant will fund the establishment of an academy in a high wage, high demand field at Terry Parker High School, which is strategically located near many industry partners,” said Fierle. “This is a huge investment. It allows us to expand the talent pipeline for the automotive industry and prepare students for local careers.”
In addition to this new program, the Workforce CAP grant will allow for enhancements and upgrades to existing programs. These include:
Agriculture Biotechnology - Ribault High School
Applied Cybersecurity - Andrew Jackson High School
Automotive Collision Technology - Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology
Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair - Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology
Aviation Maintenance General - Frank H. Peterson Academies of Technology
Biomedical Sciences - Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts
Computer Science Principles - Raines High School and Westside High School
Digital Audio Production - Ribault High School
Digital Video Technology – Paxon School for Advanced Studies, Atlantic Coast High School, Stanton College Preparatory School
Game/Simulation/Animation Programming - Andrew Jackson High School
Nursing Assistant (Acute and Long-Term Care) - Andrew Jackson High School, Westside High School, Ribault High School, Atlantic Coast High School, and Darnell-Cookman School of the Medical Arts
Principles of Teaching: Atlantic Coast High School
Sport, Recreation and Entertainment Marketing - Ed White High School
Business Management and Analysis - Riverside High School
The funds will assist with purchasing supplies and equipment, as well as go toward capital improvements like upgrading and retrofitting classroom spaces for new CTE labs.
Duval County Public Schools was one of several school districts to receive a Workforce CAP grant, which totaled more than $24 million across the state.