Multi districts — With the potential to double career and technical education opportunities, the site of the former Dutton Elementary School is set to become Kent ISD’s second career technical education center.
Kent ISD has entered into an agreement with Caledonia Community Schools to purchase the 14.35-acre site at 3820 68th St. SE for $2.02 million. Funds to finance the property and build the new facility will come from multiple sources including the ongoing Regional Enhancement Millage, which a portion has been used for CTE expansion, Kent ISD School Board-authorized bonds and CTE fund balances from the millage.
“By creating a second CTE center, Kent ISD will be able to provide more access and opportunities for high school students to participate in career-focused, hands-on learning that can be life-changing,” said Kent ISD Superintendent Ron Gorman. “Building the new center with the potential to house nearly a dozen programs will allow us to serve hundreds more students and will help us meet a strategic goal and a goal of CareerPrep 2030, to double the number of students in Career and Technical Education by the year 2030.”
Career Prep 2030, a countywide initiative spearheaded by Kent ISD, sets the goal to double student participation in CTE programs by reaching 10,000 students by 2030. This is about 67% of the 11th and 12th grade population in Kent ISD, which according to MI School Data, was around 15,154 students for the 2023-24 school year when the initiative was launched.
‘Kent ISD will be able to provide more access and opportunities for high school students to participate in career-focused, hands-on learning that can be life-changing.’
Kent ISD Superintendent Ron Gorman
To achieve this, Kent ISD has partnered with local school districts to develop career and technical education and work-based learning programs, while also collaborating to increase CTE offerings with universities such as Davenport University and Grand Valley State University and trade programs such as West Michigan Construction Institute.
Kent ISD currently offers nearly 30 CTE programs in which students get hands-on experience in high-tech labs at Kent Career Tech Center, located at 1655 E. Beltline Ave. NE. Those programs include hospitality, automotive, engineering, manufacturing, criminal justice, HVAC, agriscience and construction.
Gorman said a second CTE site would help address long-term student needs, including enrollment trends, capacity limits at Kent Career Tech Center and increasing demand for CTE programs.
Kent ISD officials considered several locations and decided on the former Dutton Elementary site because of population growth in the area and its access to industry partners, Gorman said.
According to information from Kent ISD, the site also met other key factors in the decision-making process: location, size, demand for CTE in the area and access to programming.
The former Dutton Elementary was built in 1956 to replace a one-room schoolhouse that was near the 68th Street site. In 2020, Caledonia Community Schools officials announced plans to move Dutton Elementary from 68th Street for several reasons: the building was among the district’s oldest and smallest, it lacked air conditioning, and officials raised safety concerns about heavy traffic on 68th Street and East Paris Avenue, where the school was surrounded by commercial and industrial property.
The new Dutton Elementary, a 60,000-square-foot building located at 76th Street and East Paris Avenue, was approved by voters in the 2020 and 2023 bond proposals and opened in August 2025.
Since the 68th Street building will be demolished to make way for the new CTE center, Caledonia Community Schools will be hosting an open house at the site Feb. 24. More information about the event will be released by Caledonia Community Schools.
Kent ISD’s next steps include planning and the design phase, which should take about six months, Gorman said. While the district has no major traffic concerns, the planning will include a traffic study and recommendations, he said.
Gorman said details about programming and other aspects will be released after the design phase.
Construction is tentatively scheduled to start this fall, depending on site preparation including demolition of the old elementary school and completion of the design process.
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