The Iowa Department of Education has awarded $500,000 in competitive grants to 15 school districts through the Credentials to Careers grant program. The grant supports high school students earning secondary career and technical education program credentials.
Two Siouxland school districts, Boyden-Hull and Hinton, received the credentials to careers grant. Each district will be awarded up to $50,000 during the 2025-2026 school year.
Last year, 3 area districts, Westwood, Sergeant Bluff Luton, and Sioux City, received those grants.
Funds for the credentials-to-careers grants are provided through state set-aside Perkins reserve funds. The goal of the reserve fund is to support innovation and alignment of career and technical education programs with regional workforce needs.
*U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins will visit Iowa and Nebraska Saturday.
In Nebraska Secretary Rollins will tour the Klosterman Feedlot Innovation Center and meet with Senator Deb Fischer and other Nebraska Congressional Representatives.
Rollins, Fischer, and the representatives will meet with Nebraska agricultural stakeholders at the University of Lincoln, Nebraska.
Rollins will then travel to Des Moines to attend the Iowa State Fair alongside Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, where they plan to announce legislation that they say will impact rural communities in Iowa.
While at the fair, Rollins will also participate in the Governor’s Charity Steer Show and Auction.
*University of Nebraska President Jeffery Gold announced Friday that he plans to offer some faculty voluntary buyouts to help close a large budget shortfall.
Gold sent out an email to university faculty Friday morning laying out his plans.
He said that a voluntary separation plan would be offered to "eligible tenure faculty” across all campuses.
Eligibility for Voluntary Separation is limited to tenured faculty members who are 62 years or older with 10 or more years of service, according to a Q&A link provided in Gold’s email.
Faculty members who accept the offer and are approved would receive a payment equal to 70% of their base annual salary.
Gold said application materials will be sent to eligible faculty members soon and they will have until September 30 to decide whether to apply for the offer.
*The Western Iowa Tech Mass Communication department has been awarded a $20,000 grant from the Gilchrist Foundation.
The grant will provide funding for the startup costs for KWSR FM 94.3, a new, student-run station.
“This grant gets us the ‘last mile’ in our goal of bringing another voice to the campus and community as a whole,” Chris Mansfield, Mass Communication Program Coordinator, said.
The funding is being used to purchase necessary equipment.
The student-run station will cover a 30-mile radius from WITCC’s Sioux City campus and plans to be on air by the end of September.
Siouxland Public Media is a licensee of Western Iowa Tech.
