Jack Swain is the newest president of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools (NJCCVTS). As superintendent of Salem County Vocational Technical School District, he has spent the last 13 years immersed in career and technical education (CTE) and seeing its value firsthand in each student’s success story.
In his new role with the Council, he looks forward to celebrating the value with a broader audience and working with fellow county vocational-technical school leaders to pool and implement ideas for strengthening career education across the state.
“I will be advocating for vocational education, with a focus on growing our capacity to serve even more students,” said Swain. “Our schools should be accessible to every student who wants to enroll, but we do have limits on space and resources to make that happen.”
Swain said he was surprised to find that Salem County Vocational Technical School District had a significant waiting list when he first stepped into the superintendent role over a decade ago. He then discovered that waiting lists of hundreds of names were common among county vocational-technical schools at that time.
He tapped into the power of collaboration to help do something about it. He joined Council staff, fellow superintendents and then Senator Steve Sweeney to advocate for funding to serve more students through new and expanded career programs.
Such efforts led to the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, which was passed by voters in 2018. Projects funded by that Bond Act continue to come to fruition, and each one is a reminder to Swain that the Council and his colleagues in CTE can continue to work together to spark growth in career education.
Swain explained that as president of the Council, he wants to change perceptions that can become barriers to making vocational education more accessible. He noted that opposing perceptions of vocational education persist, with some seeing it as an option only for the top academically performing students and others holding the view that it is for students who lack academic focus and direction.
“The truth is, we want to accept all students who make an informed and decisive choice to attend one of our schools,” Swain explained. “If a student comes to an open house, learns more about a program and makes the decision to pursue that program, then that is the type of student we want and should do everything we can to support.”
Swain said that even a smaller district like his in Salem County has a range of programming options, which is further proof that vocational-technical education is not exclusively for one type of student.
He recently testified at the statehouse in support of increasing the energy supply chain alongside PSEG Nuclear, a business partner that helps train Salem County Vocational Technical School District students in relevant career programs, such as the Academy for Energy Applications. In this Academy, students learn the engineering of power generation and explore the functions of plan operations from machinery to system design. They also can accrue college credits through an articulation agreement with Salem Community College’s Nuclear Energy Technology program.
Swain said the school district also collaborates with PSEG Nuclear to train students in submerged arc welding in a program that received funding from the Bond Act.
“Our programs are filling important employment needs in our area and can help support growth within the energy industry, which is important to our local economy and also has a far-reaching impact.”
Swain said that he has learned how to both collaborate and communicate to benefit CTE from his predecessors on the Council Executive Committee and NJCCVTS staff, including former Executive Director Judy Savage, current Executive Director Jackie Burke and current Assistant Executive Director Anne Nicolas.
“Jack stepped into this role committed to doing what he can to ensure our county vocational-technical schools remain connected and relevant,” said Burke. “We appreciate his leadership as we work together as a Council to adjust offerings to workforce changes and provide exceptional and accessible career education across New Jersey.”
The full NJCCVTS slate of officers, which was elected by Council members who lead New Jersey’s county vocational-technical schools, includes:
- President: John (Jack) R. Swain, Superintendent, Salem County Vocational Technical School District
- President-Elect: Gwendolyn S. Ryan, Superintendent, Union County Vocational-Technical Schools
- Vice President: Todd Bonsall, Superintendent, Hunterdon County Vocational School District
- Treasurer: Robert Presuto, Superintendent, Somerset County Vocational and Technical Schools
- Secretary: Wanda Pichardo, Superintendent, Camden County Technical Schools
