History

Scott County Career and Technical Center is an area Career and Technical Center located in Scott County Virginia near the Gate City High School / Middle School Complex. It was originally designed to meet the vocational needs of the people of Scott County and to fulfill the mandate of the Vocational Act of 1963 which states that every person in every community shall have access to a vocational course of his or her choice.With the passage of the Act, the State of Virginia began to place more emphasis on vocational education. This was also the concept of Jack B. Renick, who was Superintendent of Scott County Schools at that time. He, with assistance of J. H. Lowe, Assistant State Supervisor, petitioned the Scott County School Board to construct a vocational school in Scott County since Appalachian Regional funds were available on an 80-20 percent matching basis. The school board approved this recommendation, and it was passed to the Board of Supervisors for their consideration. Subsequently, at a special called meeting, January 21, 1966, the Board elected to start work immediately on a vocational school to serve the three area high schools (Gate City High, Rye Cove High, Twin Springs High, and now Gate City Middle School) in teaching the job preparation electives, mainly in the field of Trade and Industrial Education.Plans were drawn, the contract was let, and construction of Scott County Vocational Center was completed in mid April, 1969. Occupancy was scheduled and accomplished in mid April, 1970. The vocational offerings at the time were: Auto Mechanics, Cosmetology, Drafting, Electricity, Food Occupations, Machine Shop, Masonry, Printing, and Welding. The principal of the Vocational Center at that time had preliminary plans and specifications prepared for an addition in the event the funds became available. In 1972 these funds became available through the Appalachian Regional Commission on a 75-25 percent basis. At the urging of all concerned, on April 17, 1972, the School Board moved to construct the addition. Shortly after this the Board of Supervisors ratified this action without dissent. In February 1973, a contract was made for the addition. The date set for completion was February, 1974. The building was completed on schedule. This allowed the fall term of school in 1975 to open with the addition of the following courses: Auto Body, Child Care, Farm Machinery, Industrial Careers Cluster, and Industrial Services Cluster. Thus, the vocational course offerings were increased to sixteen at that time. Also, the Center was housing six classes of Business Education for Gate City High School.The school has been under the leadership of principals: Walter Stata, Joe Chapman, and Susan S. Green, and the leadership of principals/CTE Directors: Thomas H. Haynes, Ralph Quesinberry and the current principal / CTE Director, Greg Ervin. 


Presently, the Center is operating under the name of Scott County Career and Technical Center (changed from Scott County Vocational Center in 2002) with the following course offerings: Cosmetology, HVACR, Computer Networking Hardware Operations, Culinary Arts, Practical Nursing, Welding, Building Trades, Masonry, Graphics Imaging Technology, Electricity and Cabling, Horticulture, Manufacturing Systems, Marketing, Collision Repair Technology, and Automotive ServicingTechnology. Night classes are offered in various courses according to demand.