It’s good to have the Lawrence school district and the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce officially working together on a new facility to provide technical and job training for local high school students and other adults.

Rather than move forward with plans to build a career and technical education facility on property the district already owns near Holcom Park, school board members agreed Monday to shift their plans to a location near 31st Street and Haskell Avenue, where it will be part of a larger training complex proposed by the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. The Lawrence-Douglas County Economic Development Corp. plans to acquire the property and deed a portion of it to the school district and retain the rest for an adult job training center.

Many details remain to be worked out about the two facilities, but Monday’s decision was a good first step. The school district wants to offer programs in health sciences, computer networking, commercial construction and machine technologies. The chamber’s plans are less defined, but it may use its facility to provide specific training for businesses already located in Lawrence or those the city is seeking to attract.

Nonetheless, the overall missions of the two entities should be closely aligned. Both plan to contract with area community colleges and technical schools to offer courses at the new complex, and coordinating their efforts should make the new facility more attractive to both students and the schools that want to provide programs there. We hope the school district and chamber officials can develop an operational structure for the joint facility that benefits both students and local businesses.

Lawrence is proud to be the home of Kansas University, but many well-paying and high-demand careers don’t require a university degree. It’s important for students who choose those careers to have strong job training opportunities at convenient locations in Lawrence.

The desire to provide those opportunities isn’t new in Lawrence, but it’s great to see some concrete movement on a community effort to make enhanced job training for local students and adults a reality.