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-Editorial
Imperial Valley College has provided opportunities for a better future to our students giving them a high-quality education curriculum that opens doors to better chances for everyone.
IVC has taken a great leap by modernizing its campus so that students get access to services and educational opportunities but they are not done yet. Imperial Valley College wants to take this to the next level by asking the voters to approve Measure B.
Measure B is a $130 million bond measure for Imperial Valley College that will fund a Regional Public Safety Training Center as well as specialized facilities for lithium training programs.
This measure will provide a source of local funding that can only be used to improve Imperial Valley College and cannot be taken by the State and spent elsewhere.
The public safety training center would train new firefighters, police officers, paramedics, and emergency medical technicians as well as expand opportunities for existing public safety professionals to upgrade their skills.
Currently, much of this training occurs out of the Valley at a major cost to taxpayers.
The IVC regional center would allow a full-time police academy that would reduce training time from a year to six months and would centralize firefighter training which currently occurs throughout the Valley. It also would provide local professional development opportunities for existing public safety personnel.
Plans for the IVC lithium program includes specially designed laboratories for training future employees for that industry. Imperial County officials and industry professionals envision a “Lithium Valley” in Imperial County that would establish California as a global production hub that could employ thousands of workers and propel the economic future of Imperial County residents for generations to come.
It would also upgrade IVC’s science, technology, engineering, and math labs as well as fund repairs and updates to other classroom buildings on the 60-year-old campus.
Measure B is being held following the state’s Proposition 39 regulations. That allows passage with a 55-percent “yes” vote. It also requires an independent Citizens Oversight Committee to monitor bond expenditures.
Thanks to the community’s investment in our college over the past 60 years, IVC has provided outstanding educational opportunities for our students. Through this support, and IVC’s superb educational team, it has been designated by the Aspen Institute as one of the 10 best community colleges in the country.
IVC is one of the 10 finalists for the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. This prize is the nation’s signature recognition of community colleges that are achieving high, improving, and equitable outcomes for students.
The future is bright for Imperial County is great and by supporting Measure B we allow our students to get an education in the Imperial Valley and make our community a better place. But that will only happen if we support Imperial Valley College and help the college grow to new levels. We can do it by voting “Yes on Measure B.”
