A combination of increased graduation requirements, declining program enrollment and decreasing revenue may force the Edwardsville School District to stop sending students to the Collinsville Area Vocational Center.

Students from Edwardsville take classes in three of the 13 two-year programs offered by the center: welding, auto mechanics and auto body repair. About 22 of the center's 341 students are from the Edwardsville school district.

Edwardsville Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum Linda Andre said the district has not finalized its decision.

"Last year, we did make the decision not to send any juniors this year and to allow seniors to finish," Andre said. "We will be making the decision this fall about (the next year)."

Eight Metro East high schools are eligible to participate in the Collinsville Area Vocational Center: Collinsville, Highland, Lebanon, O'Fallon, Triad, Madison, Mascoutah and Edwardsville. Of those, only students from Collinsville, Edwardsville, Madison and Mascoutah currently attend the program.

Collinsville Area Vocational Center Director Mark Anderson said the center has upgraded its facilities and technology recently. He said he hopes to meet with Edwardsville district officials this fall to discuss retaining the district's students.

"Their students that they send to us are outstanding students," Anderson said. "We had a couple of (Edwardsville) students who graduated from the program, who contacted their board members to say why are they shutting it down because it was such a successful program. That they wouldn't have jobs if it wasn't for the program."

However, in a presentation to school board members earlier this year, Edwardsville Superintendent Ed Hightower said that since the state began requiring increased graduation requirements in 2005, the district has seen a continuing decline in enrollment in vocational education courses as students focus less on electives.

Andre said the district has a partnership with Lewis & Clark Community College to offer vocational courses and offers its own vocational programming.

"We want to be responsive in what it takes to prepare out students for the workforce," Andre said.

Edwardsville is facing less revenue from the state and it costs $2,500 to send each student to the Collinsville Area Vocational Center. Hightower said in the presentation to the school board that the district would save $35,000 next school year if it stops sending students to the vocational center.

Contact reporter Ramona C. Sanders at 618-344-0264, ext. 136