Firefighter training program revived–NJ.com
Monday, May 26th, 2008Firefighter training program revived
High school students will continue receiving necessary instruction
Monday, May 26, 2008
Trenton Times
http://www.nj.com
BY MEIR RINDE
For a few weeks, it appeared as if a county program that lets teens become firefighters by the time they graduate high school was training its last class.
In early April, Mercer County Technical School unexpectedly told participating school districts not to enroll students for next fall, alarming the local fire companies with which the students are affiliated.
But last week the technical school said the program would continue and officials were near resolutions regarding liability, equipment and cost concerns that had led them to propose its cancellation.
“We do have to work with the fire companies to ensure that the proper equipment is provided and the proper affiliations with the fire schools is provided,” Technical School Superintendent Kimberly J. Schneider said.
“We’re going to have a class next year and we’re going to continue having discussions of budget recommendations over the summer for the 2009-10 school year,” she said.
The school plans to sign an interlocal agreement with Mercer County Community College, the county and individual fire compa nies to ensure the 9-year-old program’s continuation.
The program for high school students is administered by the technical school, but the classes are actually conducted by the community college, which also offers fire science instruction for adult students.
The program operates in the afternoon, allowing students to spend mornings at their high schools and then go to Dempster Fire Training Center in Lawrence for training in firefighting, dispatching and emergency medical skills.
At the end of each year, the 12 to 20 students in that year’s class are certified as 9-1-1 dispatchers, emergency medical technicians and firefighters, and can begin working for a fire company.
The sudden announcement in April that the program would not continue came as a shock to local fire companies, which appealed to the county board of freeholders for help.
“This was very upsetting,” said Doug Brower, a Ewing firefighter who is an administrator at the Hopewell Valley Regional School District and has a son in the program. “It just came out of thin air.”
“There was insufficient communication,” county Freeholder Daniel Benson said at a board meeting this month. “That’s being addressed now.”
The program allows students to avoid having to undergo more expensive training as adults, when they or their fire companies would have to pay for them to attend classes while they are also attending college or working.
According to freeholders, County Executive Brian Hughes and Brower, the root of the decision was the unusual status of one high school student in the program.
The students are each affiliated with a local fire company, which provides them with firefighting equipment and insurance coverage.
But one student became unaffi liated with his company and the technical school did not know how to handle his equipment and insurance needs.
That led lawyers for the school to examine the program, decide it posed liability problems and suggest it be completely canceled, Walter and Brower said.
“I believe these attorneys looked at this really quickly and said, ‘Let’s close this one without doing any research — or talking to anyone,’” Brower said.
Students are not allowed to practice fighting fires until they are 18, at which point they are covered by the state workers compensation program, he said.
Brower said technical school officials told him the program is running a deficit of $6,000 to $8,000. He suggested parents, schools and fire companies could help subsidize the program.