Some Daytona State College students could soon be among the crews of construction workers helping to fuel the local building boom — provided they’re first released from prison.
DSC’s board of trustees last week approved creating a program that would allow inmates at Tomoka Correctional Institution to earn a Building Trades Construction and Design Technology vocational certificate. Prison officials still need to finalize the agreement, that if approved would allow DSC to host an off-campus site at the prison on 3950 Tiger Bay Road in Daytona Beach.
The marked increase in area building projects has created a demand for skilled construction workers, DSC provost Amy Locklear said recently.
“There’s such a need in the construction industry right now,” Locklear said. “If these are people that can have a second chance and learn skills that will give them a viable job when they are released then that’s a win/win for everybody.”
Because of the high demand, construction companies might be willing to hire less experienced workers, but given their choice, employers prefer trained workers, DSC’s School of Workforce director Frank Snyder said.
“We teach students to read drawings, … how to layout a building, we also teach them beginning electricity, beginning plumbing, and beginning masonry,” Snyder said. “We try to develop well-rounded employees and give them a skill set that you just don’t get walking onto a construction site as a framer, so-to-speak.”
Those extra skills also allow new hires to advance in the company faster, Snyder said, adding that students also could work in maintenance positions.
DSC’s trades program also includes a 10-week internship program, where students can learn different aspects of construction projects such as estimating or shadowing a superintendent, Snyder said. The internship allows students and contractors to see if working together will be a good fit, he said.
Students in the program have completed a number of projects including renovations for the Halifax Humane Society and various projects for the City of Daytona Beach’s Public Works Department, Snyder said.
Besides a certificate, students also will have the opportunity to earn an industry credential from the National Center for Construction Education and Research, a DSC document says.
DSC’s construction certificate program is in its second year. The college can train up to 20 students a semester, though it has never reached capacity. If the prison program launches, DSC could train an additional 40 students, Snyder said.
While inmates could start learning construction skills at the prison sooner under DSC’s continuing education program, the actual certificate program wouldn’t begin before spring of 2019, Locklear said.
The prison had offered a similar program, but discontinued it after its instructor left. In October, prison officials approached DSC about starting the new program, Snyder said.
For now, DSC will focus on the construction trades, though the college is open to exploring other options in the future, Locklear said.
The program only would be open to inmates who meet DSC enrollment criteria and prison standards. Inmates who leave the prison before completing the program would be eligible to finish the program at DSC and the transition would be seamless, Snyder said.
The prison would pay for the costs of the program, which typically run $2,500 to $2,800 per student, though financial aid is available, he said.
DSC previously offered GED instruction at the prison, but discontinued the program in 1998 after the state stopped funding adult education programs at the correctional facility, Locklear said. This would be the first program for inmates to learn trade-based skills and earn a college-level certificate, she said.
Because the prison has had similar trades classes with outside instructors, Snyder said he did not think working at the prison would not pose any danger for the DSC instructors.
Prison officials said the program, though not yet approved, would be good for inmates.
“In general, programs are designed to help inmates better themselves and equip them with competencies conducive to successful social reintegration, and the Department (of Corrections) is proud to offer a wide range of opportunities at institutions statewide toward this purpose,” a prison spokesman said in an emailed statement.