Plans to begin San Quentin’s newest vocational programs are now underway, said the prison’s educational principal.
Sacramento has approved the hiring of instructors for building maintenance and computer literacy, the first new vocational programs, said Acting Principal Tony Beebe.
“Sacramento and the prison’s administration are fully behind this expansion,” Beebe said.
Programs expected to be operational by July 2013 are carpentry, heating ventilation and air conditioning, masonry, plumbing, small engine repair and green technology. The Education Department will add three teachers to its Volunteer Education Program, three teachers to its GED program and four instructors to its Adult Basic Education, Beebe said.
Teachers and instructors who were previously laid off would be given priority to the new positions, Beebe said.
San Quentin has “surpassed the goals set by the Office of Correctional Education” in Sacramento, Beebe said. “I’m very proud of the teachers and staff; they’re dedicated and self-motivated . . . They focus on what they need to do to make it better.”