School District allots $450K for aerospace academy as enrollment stays flat

June 30--It's a costly undertaking to prop up and expand the Aerospace Science Academy at Boynton Beach High -- $453,726 was just approved for next school year.

But the Palm Beach County School Board says there continues to be exceptional value in the 118-student career program, which is struggling to attract applicants as it enters its sixth year.

"We need to nurture it," said board member Jennifer Prior Brown. "It is a program we believe in."

The academy is a partnership with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and the costs cover expenses and the salaries of adjunct faculty members who teach aviation, aeronautical science and other courses at Boynton Beach High.

Last year, the board spent $382,715 for the Daytona Beach-based university to provide 36 course sections. For the upcoming school year, the board agreed last week to spend an additional $71,011 to cover a total of 42 college and trade-level study sections.

These offerings are planned in the hopes more students from around the county will discover the unique choice academy, where class sizes average about 17 students to one instructor, said director Paul Hershorin.

"We have room to expand," he said Friday, adding it would be more economical and desirable to teach fuller classes for students placed on an academic track or an aviation maintenance science track.

For the academic track, students can earn 32 to 55 college credits during their high school years. For the maintenance track, students can work toward a Federal Aviation Administration Airframe and Powerplant Mechanics Certificate.

"Those kids out of high school can work at any airport for $22 an hour with that certificate," Hershorin said.

The academy, which has 4.5 teachers, is preparing to send out marketing letters to 800 students across the county who didn't get their first choice of a choice program, Hershorin said. A minimum 2.5 grade point average is required for admission.

For the upcoming school year, the academy received just 39 applications, including 35 from students entering the ninth grade. Of those freshman, 27 were deemed eligible and 22 were assigned seats, according to district records.

But Hershorin expects at least 35 freshmen when classes start Aug. 20. The goal is to attract even more prospects from Boca Raton, Wellington, Palm Beach Gardens and other areas. The majority of students live in Boynton Beach.

"This is a fabulous program," said board member Karen Brill. "It serves many of our underserved students. It excites them. It ignites something inside them that in many cases leads them on a career path that they've never anticipated."

Since opening in 2007, the academy has benefitted from special donations, including eight types of aircraft and a turbine engine. Six of the planes are on campus, including a 1955 Cessna 310. Two working models are based at Lantana Airport, where students are eligible for 10 hours of free flight instruction, Hershorin said.

He traveled to Miami International Airport on Friday to check out the academy's latest gift -- an Airbus A320 flight simulator from Spirit Airlines.

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