Watertown School Board Authorizes Bids for $96,000 Lake Area Tech Welding Equipment Upgrade
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown School Board unanimously approved authority to advertise for bids on an estimated $96,000 in replacement welding equipment for Lake Area Technical College during its regular meeting Monday night, Nov. 9.
The motion to authorize bidding under Agenda Item 4.2.3 was made by board member Jean Moulton, seconded by Kari Lohr, and carried unanimously. According to LATC President Tiffany Sanderson, the $96,000 equipment replacement will be funded entirely through federal Carl D. Perkins career and technical education grant funds that the college receives annually.
Two-Tiered Welding Pathways and High Workforce Demand
During discussion on the motion, board members noted the strong workforce demand and competitive pay for welding graduates, prompting LATC President Tiffany Sanderson to highlight the program’s flexible one- and two-year academic tracks.
"Very high demand in welding and a variety of career options," Sanderson said. "This is one of the program areas that we offer that has two options or two lanes for students. They can come in for one year and graduate with a diploma and go out and have basic welding position opportunities. If they stay around for a second year, they have a variety of options to add on to that. They can go into advanced welding, which is a lot of pipe welding. They can add on precision machining, or they can go through the business program to get those foundational entrepreneurship skills, so good opportunities within welding in a variety of related industries."
Split-Shift Class Schedules Support Local Industry Employment
Board members also highlighted how LATC structures its daily welding lab schedules so students can work part-time jobs in local manufacturing while completing their degrees.
"That's exactly right," Sanderson said. "Our welding program starts at seven in the morning, and when we have enough students, runs a couple of shifts through the day so we can maximize the use of that space. But that early group is able to go to work on second shift, and then the later group often does third shift."
