As California transitions to electric vehicles, a Sacramento high school will start training students as EV technicians

A pilot program in the Sacramento City Unified School District could help California's emerging electric vehicle industry by preparing students for EV technician roles upon graduation.

Starting in January of 2024, students at John F. Kennedy High School will partake in the zero-emission automotive career pathway encompassing electric and hybrid vehicles — one of the first in the county and state.  

The pathway will replace the previous curriculum which solely focused on internal combustion engines. Students currently enrolled are in the first of a three-year program. A collaboration with the school’s advanced manufacturing pathway will culminate in students building and manufacturing components of their own electric vehicles. 

With California legislation mandating all new cars sold in the state be zero emission by 2035, high-paying job opportunities in the industry have the potential to saturate the market.

“In California, this year, about one in four [new] cars has a plug, [which is] way ahead of the country and there’s a crying need for a new crop of young technicians,” explained John Voelcker, an automotive reporter specializing in electric vehicles. “High school kids are at their most impressionable and if they can be convinced that this is an interesting and potentially lucrative career, it will help the problem a lot.”

Preparing students — and teachers — for an EV future

Career and technical pathways have been a focus for districts in Sacramento County, and with the overall low rates of students pursuing four-year college degrees after graduation, technical careers — like that of an electric vehicle technician — are alternative solutions. Yet, implementing and funding this innovative pathway has not been without obstacles. 

JB Polanco, the automotive pathway instructor at Kennedy High, worked in the internal combustion engine industry for over 13 years before becoming an educator.

“Lots of people are having to be retrained, like myself, and change to the new technologies that are coming out,” said Polanco, who is self-learning the electric vehicle curriculum. 

Polanco, also an American River College and Cosumnes River College instructor, underscored that the coursework should not completely veer away from internal combustion engines. 

“The end goal is having our students turn out as entry-level EV technicians. That is the future,” he said. “But we still need to incorporate the internal combustion part of it because just the electrical and the mechanical understanding and aptitude that goes along with that is going to be vital to people being able to transition to the electric vehicle sector.”

JB Polanco, the automotive pathway instructor at Kennedy High, on Dec. 1, 2023.Courtesy SCUSD

However, for those who started as standard automotive technicians, the transition to electric vehicle technician is a difficult one, emphasized Voelcker, noticing the increasing number of jobs available in the electric vehicle market. 

“There's three parts of new technology in an electric vehicle: the big battery, the electric motor, and power electronics which are all of the various circuits that move the power around and convert it into different strengths,” said Voelcker about the adjustments required to existing coursework for technicians. “The idea here is that starting ideally in high school, we need a whole variety of new courses with new materials that've never been used in the automotive sphere before.” 

Engaging a new generation of technicians 

Polanco, having witnessed the void of EV technicians in the industry, invited Frank Cutajar, a technician recruiter for Lithia Motors, to his classroom to explain the changing automotive landscape. Cutajar said that the burgeoning electric vehicle industry has transformed how the career is perceived.

“When I started as a technician, it was a dirty job,” Cutajar said. “It's not what it used to be 20 years ago — the work environment has changed. It's not a job, it truly is a career.”

When recruiting for Lithia Motors, the electric vehicle technician salary is between $140,000 to $160,000, he said, and the number is higher for those with more certifications. When speaking with high school students, Cutajar said he wants them to grasp the complexity of the work and the opportunities available to them. 

“It is an eye-opener,” he noted on the response from the classroom at Kennedy High, many of whom had no understanding of the career growth in the EV sector.

Just one of three women in Polanco’s class, senior Karina Morales said she learned a lot from the guest speakers, like Cutajar, who came to her class.

“They were telling us about good things in the automotive industry and now, I think that's a good job to have, especially if you're a girl,” she said.

As Polanco is developing the new zero-emissions curriculum for his class, he said inclusivity is a major consideration in the language and the imagery, citing how women, students of color, and the LGBTQ+ community have been underrepresented in the coursework.  

“One of the main things as teachers that we recognize is that the curriculum and the lesson plans have to reflect our students,” he advocated. Polanco is hoping to recruit a more diverse cohort for his class, he said, because he wants knowledge of the high-paying industry to be known to more students.

“Students here at Kennedy are typically people of color and most of them don't have or aren't aware of the opportunities available to them after high school,” he said. “This program gives them skills that they need to be able to enter the workforce after graduation.”

The cost of recharging the curriculum 

Daniel Spinka, the career readiness director for the district, had been waiting on a K-12 strong workforce grant to begin the process of hands-on electric vehicle training at Kennedy High.

The high school is one of the few in the county, and the only one in the district, with an automotive facility on-site to host the career pathway, resulting in fewer funds being needed to adjust the classroom to be zero-emission forward. 

“One of the biggest challenges that districts have for starting new programs is building a facility,” said Spinka. The district has received around $300,000 to update equipment for the initiative, but that amount would be unattainably higher if the classroom facilities were not already built, he added. 

Despite all the benefits of this program, which range from well-paid workforce opportunities to sustaining green energy, the district has no plans of expanding the pilot program beyond Kennedy High, said Spinka.

“Ideally, we have more than one program around the city to make it accessible,” he said. “But then there's the reality. Hopefully, we have a community willing to make a multi-million dollar investment.”

He did indicate that if the district witnessed huge demand for the program, which would involve parent advocacy, and the data indicated better outcomes for students, they would consider replicating the model. 

According to Voelcker, California is leading the way in the electric vehicle market, and zero-emission coursework in high schools will be a design that other states will follow when confronted with the emerging industry. 

“California had to think about it five to 10 years ago and you're seeing the results now with multiple community colleges, vocational schools and hopefully more than one high school with [such programs],” said Voelcker. “It's encouraging to me to hear that there is even one high school program.”

Srishti Prabha is an education reporter and Report For America corps member in collaboration with CapRadio and The Sacramento Observer. Their focus is K-12 education in Sacramento’s Black communities.

Clarification: This story was updated to clarify that one in four new cars in California is at least partially electric. 

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of John Voelcker. It has been corrected.