Blackhawk Technical College Considers Cutting Aviation Program

ROCK TOWNSHIP--Members of the Blackhawk Technical College Board in two weeks will consider eliminating the school’s aviation program to save $370,000, President Thomas Eckert said.

Meanwhile, program supporters are scrambling to convince the board that the aviation program is a necessary one, said Jim Freeman, owner of Helicopter Specialties, Janesville, and an alumnus of the school.

Eckert will propose the cut at the board’s regular meeting Wednesday, Nov. 16. The program’s three instructors have been notified the program is being considered for suspension, Eckert said.

The decision was financially driven, Eckert said.

“Nobody wants this, but we had a 30 percent reduction in state aid, and our levies have been capped,” Eckert said. “We would prefer not to do this, but we just don’t have a choice.”

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