The Santa Cruz County Continuing Education Title II Adult Education program received a $20,000 start-up grant on Mar. 31 to expand career training in the construction industry. The funding comes from the National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER) and the Lowe’s Foundation as part of the 2026 Community Construction Academies initiative led by the Coalition on Adult Basic Education in partnership with NCCER.
This grant aims to create new opportunities for county residents to gain industry-recognized credentials and access employment in high-demand construction trades. The initiative is expected to help strengthen the local workforce by offering practical skills development.
As part of this effort, participants will follow NCCER Core+: Introduction to Basic Construction Skills curriculum and obtain Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA-10) safety credentials. The program also includes six- to eight-week hands-on carpentry instruction designed to build job-ready abilities.
Academic achievement data from Santa Cruz County shows that educational challenges persist among students. In grades three through eight, 74.4% failed the mathematics section of the 2022-23 AASA assessment according to Arizona Department of Education. Similarly, 84% of high schoolers did not pass mathematics on the ACT during that same period according to Arizona Department of Education. English proficiency rates were also low: 66.4% of students in grades three through eight failed English on AASA according to Arizona Department of Education, while 72% of high schoolers did not pass English on the ACT according to Arizona Department of Education.
Recent results show some improvement: during the 2023-24 school year, Santa Cruz County saw an increase with 18% of its high schoolers passing mathematics on the ACT according to Arizona Department of Education, and a passing rate for math among third through eighth graders at 23.6% on AASA according to Arizona Department of Education.
For more information about enrollment or program details, interested individuals are encouraged to call (520) 375-7670.
