FORREST CITY, Ark. — “Y’all know the procedure. We got to push it off these plates. And after we push them off, we lock them down,” a shop instructor at Crowley’s Ridge Technical Institute says to his students.
Students at CRTI told us the education they get at the school is second to none.
“The teachers are understanding, they want to work with you. And that’s something you can’t get at a bigger school,” said Kathy Brittian, a student in the Certified Nursing Assistant Program.
That’s why students and staff can’t understand the proposed merger between CRTI and nearby East Arkansas Community College.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson is pushing for the merger to save money and stop duplication of programs.
But CRTI’s interim president, David Brown, said he considers it more of a hostile takeover.
“I say hostile because we have had no say in the matter whatsoever,” Brown said. “It’s been forced down our throat by other people. It’s not like, ‘what do y’all want to do?’ It’s like what they’re going to do to us.”
Brown said merging will mean longer classes and courses that students in vo-tech don’t really want or need, although the Governor’s Office clarified this wouldn’t be the case.
With a wide variety of skills being offered, students at CRTI said they are more anxious to get to work and not spend too much time in a classroom.
“Find a job. I gotta find a job out here, I can’t just do nothing. Vo-tech helps me do something,” CRTI student Xavier Hicks said.
Brittian said she sees the education she’s getting at CRTI as the path to her future.
“I can become a real part of the community. And that’s what I’m ready for,” she said.
Staff at CRTI point to the high number of graduates landing jobs as testament to the school’s success in the area.
Sandra Taylor, the assistant director of student services, said she wishes the governor would visit the campus and see firsthand that the merger is a bad idea.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about ’cause you haven’t looked at us. You don’t know the difference in what programs we have and what programs they have,” Taylor said.
Because of Veterans Day, no one in the Governor’s Office was available to talk about the proposed merger.
A spokesperson with East Arkansas Community College sent WREG this response: “East Arkansas Community College is open to discussions regarding a potential merger with Crowley’s Ridge Technical Institute if the opportunity arises.”
In the meantime, students at CRTI are being urged to start a letter-writing campaign and let the governor and legislators know of their opposition to the merger.
