DWD grants for school equipment include tech for construction students

Eight school districts in southeast Wisconsin will get $206,000 in state funding for vocational training equipment, including in construction and the skilled trades.

The Department of Workforce Development announced Friday it awarded $206,130 in state grants to help schools prepare students for manufacturing, construction and culinary jobs to address the state’s workforce shortage. Schools will use the money to buy training equipment, ranging from kitchen tools, a modernized lab and a meat science laboratory.

The Wauwatosa School District will receive $29,995 to purchase 18 Dell Precision computer workstations so students can learn building information modeling and Revit, which are both highly sought after skills in construction.

Another $30,000 will go to the Kenosha Unified School District to buy two Snap-on electricity introduction, measurement and circuits certification kits. The district will also buy a Snap-on hand tool identification and safety certification kit to help students prepare for different careers.

“Each of these grants will help students develop foundational skills and prepare them for the workforce,” said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek in a statement. “By providing training in industries where skilled workers are in short supply, school districts are connecting students with stable careers. At the same time, schools are helping to reduce higher education costs through dual enrollment credits, industry-endorsed certificates, and technical endorsements,” she added.

The grants were funded by a donation from the IKEA US Community Foundation in 2020, DWD officials said. The donation is aimed to address workforce needs and improve racial equality in employment in districts in Kenosha, Racine, Walworth and Milwaukee counties.

Here’s the remaining six school districts and how much they received.

• The School District of South Milwaukee received $29,789 for a new TRAK CNC knee mill, which will modernize the district’s manufacturing lab
• The Milwaukee Public School District will use its $29,645 donation to buy equipment to launch a meat science laboratory, including a commercial freezer, smoker, grinder, sausage stuffer and a vacuum sealer
• The Williams Bay School District in Walworth County will get $30,000 for Amatrol Industry 4.0 Learning Systemms, which will assess students’ hands-on skills with industrial components
• The Lake Geneva-Genoa City Union High School District will receive $5,329 to buy and install wall ovens
• The Elkhorn Area School District will receive $24,541 for culinary equipment including ovens, microwaves and an upright freezer
• The Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District will receive $26,820 for two computer numerical control manual knee mills and a CNC mill and lathe.