Mesa school board, City Council updated on economic and workforce development at collaborative meeting

By Connor Van Ligten
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The Mesa City Council and Mesa Public Schools Governing Board were given an update on the city’s efforts with economic and workforce development through MPS at a special collaborative meeting Sept. 17 at the Ikeda Stage at the Mesa Arts Center.

Mesa Education and Workforce Office administrator Sarah Tolar gave a presentation at the meeting. Solar pointed at the fact that 44% of Mesa residents age 25 and up have an associates degree or higher, a number her and the city would like to go up in the coming years.

Tolar pointed toward the biggest industries of opportunity in Mesa, including health care, biotechnology, aerospace and more. According to data from a city presentation, the number of working nurse practitioners in Mesa in 2023 was estimated to be around 4,971. In 2033, that number is projected to balloon by 78.7% for a total of 8,881 employees.

“Mesa Public Schools is doing a lot of work to make sure that those students are prepared to go and take one of those jobs, but we also need to prepare students to go to a four-year university,” Tolar said. “So having career pathways that they can learn about, but from a city perspective, through programs like the Mesa College Promise, that can help support them to go on to earn an associates degree and then transfer to ASU so they can take these high-demand, high-growth jobs, is really important too.”

Also speaking at the presentation was MPS Superintendent Tracy Yslas, who spoke on the college and career academy model that helps students be prepared for both college and their desired career path, so they can be ready to go into the workforce sooner rather than later. Yslas said at least six high schools in the district have implemented that model this year.

The multi-stage process gives additional educational resources to students at each grade of high school, helping them develop further in core subjects and career exploration through the lens of said academy’s focus. For Red Mountain High School, for example, the academy revolved around health and medical sciences, thus putting a health care lens on core education, career exploration, coursework, college exploration and more.

Through this process, students will graduate high school with both the tools to go to college and to also get a head-start on employment or apprenticeships.

“We don’t want our students in Mesa Public Schools to leave with just a high school diploma,” Yslas said. “We want them to earn college credits and have industry certifications. We want to ensure they have stacked credentials so they’re more competitive in the workforce and are ready to launch into college and career in their future.”

Mesa Unified School District — also known as Mesa Public Schools — is the largest public school district in Arizona and has six high schools, nine junior high schools, 55 elementary schools and 18 choice and success schools.