MINOT, N.D. (KMOT) – A student with Burdick Job Corps told Your News Leader that they and their classmates were informed on Friday that all students must be off campus by this Wednesday, June 4.
The student said they and their classmates were gathered in the cafeteria, where campus leadership informed everyone of the situation.
The student, who is from Minot, said some of their classmates are from out of state, like Florida, Texas, Louisiana and California. They said the school is doing what they can to get them home, but with limits on time and money, they may not be able to get them exactly to where they are from.
The student indicated that leadership at the campus was doing their best to make sure students had a place to go.
Last Friday, we reported that the Department of Labor announced all Job Corps locations in contractor-operated centers nationwide would be paused by June 30. The department said Job Corps had been operating at a $140 million deficit, and cited safety issues as well, in the decision.
On Friday, Burdick Job Corps told us they were still waiting to hear from contractors about how it would impact their campus.
We reached out again on Monday, and the director’s office said they could not confirm the June 4 date and did not have a definite answer yet on how the pause would impact the campus.
Over the weekend, North Dakota Democratic-NPL Chair Adam Goldwyn called the news of the pause of Job Corps centers nationwide “unconscionable” and called on North Dakota’s congressional delegation to step in.
Last Friday, we reached out to Gov. Armstrong and the delegation. Sen. John Hoeven’s office released the following statement:
“Senator Hoeven continues to support Job Corps and is working through his role on the Senate Appropriations Committee to ensure the program continues to operate. At the same time, while the Burdick Job Corps faculty do a great job of training young people to enter the workforce and placing them in their new careers, we are open to reforms in the program to ensure it is more effective on a national basis.”
We are waiting to hear back from the others.
Burdick Job Corps has operated in Minot for just over 30 years.
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