More career and technical education classes will be offered by Rio Rico High School by next year. With 62.6 percent of those who went to the polls saying “yes,” the formation of a JTED, or Joint Technological Education District, was approved for the Santa Cruz Valley Unified School District No. 35 (Rio Rico and Tubac).

Just 1,248 voters cast ballots in Tuesday’s election of a total of 8,113 active registered voters, or 15.4 percent.

The district plans to join with the Pima County JTED, since there are no other districts in Santa Cruz County with the program.

The Nov. 3 election question drew 782 “yes” votes and 466 “no” votes.

The unofficial results released by the Santa Cruz County Election Office show that 1,248 individuals cast ballots.

Dist. 35 Superintendent Dan Fontes said he was very happy with the outcome: “I believe the community outreach we did by visiting local groups was helpful” in getting out facts and answering questions.

A political action committee distributed fliers and raised money for advertising.

Fontes said that even with a troubled economy, he thinks taxpayers are looking to the future so they can provide students with more options.

Two district employees, Career and Technical Education Director Eleanore Rankin and Assistant Superintendent Rod Rich, will be in charge of setting up the programs.

Fontes plans to invite representatives from the Pima JTED to talk to Rio Rico High School students about the opportunities.

A property tax increase of $5 per $100,000 of assessed valuation was approved by the vote to fund the additional programs. As well, District 35 will receive a portion of the state fund provided for JTED.

The additional property tax will be charged beginning in November 2010. Fontes said, “We’ll be able to start planning right away for the fall semester.” He believes it may be possible for Rio Rico High School students to begin taking online classes soon.

The Pima JTED, which includes Sahuarita, most Tucson area high schools, Marana, Vail, Ajo and Indian Oasis/Baboquivari, was formed two years ago. Career path classes offered through JTED include agriculture, accounting, pharmacy, law enforcement, cosmetology, construction, fire safety, avionics and other fields.

(Reach the writer at kathleenvan@msn.com)