OXFORD – Students enrolled in horticulture at Oxford High School may soon be able to receive a career and technical endorsement on their diploma for their participation in the year-long class.

At a special meeting held last night, High School Principal Christine Pierce and Agriculture Teacher Dale Johnson presented their plan for gaining the necessary approval for the program to members of the district’s board of education.

Currently, Johnson explained, Oxford students are only able to earn CTE credit through DCMO BOCES, which offers a number of fields of study including cosmetology, auto-mechanics and conservation.

“We’re not competing with BOCES,” the agriculture educator said, stressing that horticulture, the growing of plants, is not one of the courses of study currently offered at the North Norwich campus. “It’s not conservation; it’s horticulture.”

According to Pierce, offering the horticulture class with the state’s CTE stamp of approval can be done at no additional cost to the district. “It will allow us to utilize the resources that we (already) have to support this program,” the building administrator explained, including staff and facilities.