Plano North | November 2025

Education

BY MICHAEL CROUCHLEY

The specics

PISD CTE Center set to open in 2026

The center will feature 18 programs ranging from automotive repair to cybersecurity and several more, each with a dedicated space. Certain programs will be accessible to the public, such as a full-service restaurant run by Culinary Arts students and a functioning credit union run by nance students. Superintendent Theresa Williams said that sta met with industry partners, local higher education institutions and studied workforce data to land on which programs needed to be included at the CTE Center. “We’re also continuing to nd and add those industry partners, because I think that’s what enriches the experience for our students,” Williams said. “We’re building tomorrow’s work- force pipeline, and so we need to make sure that our kids are learning in a way that is as relevant to the real world as possible.” Construction of the 150,000-square-foot center broke ground in November 2024, and is expected to cost around $72.2 million. The project is funded by the district’s 2022 bond.

PISD CTE Director Karen Buechman said that the CTE Center will allow the district to expand on its “already rapidly growing” CTE programming in a space accessible to all students. “We had programs that were at specic schools ... so we needed to expand,” she said. “We needed to add programs that are high-wage and in demand—once our kids leave, we’re setting them up to be leaders in a global workforce.”

Huckabee Principal Ken Kessler got his rst exposure to architecture in a Plano ISD class. Now, Kessler is in charge of managing the construction of Plano ISD’s new Career and Technical Education Center. Kessler called working on the project “full- circle,” adding that the CTE programs at the new center would be a step up for the district. “Students here are going to experience jobs as closely to a real world setting as possible,” he said. “The dierence is going to be night and day.”

CTE Center programs

• Architecture • Business, marketing and inance • Construction management and inspection • Construction technology • Culinary arts • Digital communication

• Graphic design • Information technology • Paint and collision repair • Radiology and EMT • Robotics • Travel, tourism and attractions • Welding

W. PARK BLVD.

Construction on Plano ISD’s CTE Center is underway and expected to nish next fall.

MICHAEL CROUCHLEYCOMMUNITY IMPACT

PLANO ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT

Looking ahead

Kessler added that the center was “designed for expansion,” and CTE Center Principal Jean Laswell said that sta is remaining adaptable with the curriculum. “It was all about how we can make those spaces as uid as possible,” she said. “We adapt as quickly as possible, and make sure the students are ready.”

Buechman said that more than 29,000 students took CTE courses last school year, and PISD eighth graders got their rst look at those opportunities at an Oct. 22 expo. “It was our rst year doing it and you couldn’t nd a parking space,” Williams said. “I think that was a good indicator of the demand. Eventually, we may even outgrow the CTE Center.”

“Every single one of these programs is getting students real world experience that helps them in college or going straight into the workforce.” JEAN LASWELL, CTE CENTER PRINCIPAL

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