With the opening of the new Sobrato High School scheduled for
August 2004, there has been considerable speculation about the
future of the High-Tech Agricultural Science Academy, or HTASA, at
Live Oak High.
With the opening of the new Sobrato High School scheduled for August 2004, there has been considerable speculation about the future of the High-Tech Agricultural Science Academy, or HTASA, at Live Oak High.
HTASA Coordinator Vera Gomes said discussions about the ag farm in particular are ongoing, but nothing will change immediately.
Incoming freshmen and sophomores registered last week, but the district has not compiled the figures.
Gomes said Sobrato will probably open with a small agricultural program, depending on the number of students that sign up for the classes.
Most likely, said Gomes, the ag farm will remain at Live Oak at least for next year.
“The Live Oak farm will remain intact,” she said. “But the Live Oak campus is so small physically, and the new high school site has plenty of acreage for a farm, that at some point, the one at Live Oak will be utilized in a different way, perhaps additional parking or playing or practice fields.”
If that happens, Gomes said, the farm at Sobrato would be designed to accommodate both high schools.
“What looks promising is a district farm that both would share,” she said. “If this is the case, we would want to design the ultimate ed center that would support both ag programs, a large garden, a horticulture facility, a livestock facility and more.”
In planning curriculum for the HTASA program and in looking to the future, designing the Sobrato farm for example, Gomes said she and the agriculture industry advisory committee meet monthly.
HTASA was created in 2001 when Live Oak received a $100,000 grant from the state. The grant was renewed the next school year for $75,000 and this year for $50,000.
