The resignation of Lebanon County Career and Technology Center administrative director Andra Groller was unanimously approved by the center’s board of directors at their Sept. 17 meeting.
The resignation, effective Dec. 31, comes 13 months after she signed a three-year contract through June 30, 2026, to serve as the center’s administrative director.
The center’s board, or Joint Operating Committee (JOC), approved her hiring on Aug. 15, 2023, and made it retroactive to July 1, 2023, which is when her position as temporary administrative director officially ended.
Groller told LebTown after the meeting that it was “time for retirement” after a 38-year education career. No other details were discussed by the JOC during the meeting about her contract, but the board did go into executive session following the meeting to discuss personnel matters.
Gary Messinger Jr., CTC’s superintendent of record, told LebTown the post-meeting executive session was to discuss hiring Groller’s replacement. JOC chair Ruth Ann Schlegel publicly thanked Groller for her leadership and vision for the CTC.
During the meeting, Groller said the CTC’s tentative 2023-26 comprehensive plan is posted to the center’s website for 28 days and will be available for public review until the board’s next public meeting on Oct. 15, when it will be considered for second review.
She said the comprehensive plan committee consists of representatives from the CTC and Chamber of Commerce, community members and business leaders. She noted the new mission statement differs from the current one.
Groller previously told LebTown during an interview for an article concerning the closing of adult education programs, particularly its LPN program, that the CTC was working on a new mission statement that would remove adult learners to reflect the center’s focus on the education of high school students.
The new proposed mission statement as printed in the 51-page comprehensive plan document reads: “Our mission is to provide all students with quality career and technical education that prepares students for high skill, innovative, and in-demand occupations to be career ready in a global economy.”
The current mission statement as posted on the CTC’s website says: “The Mission of the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center is to provide high school and adult students with the skill, knowledge, and understanding necessary to obtain employment, advance in careers, pursue postsecondary education and enrich their lives.”
Groller said the new comprehensive plan emphasizes preparing students to be career- and college-ready so that they can be ready to enter the workforce.
“We, of course, talk about our staff and continuous improvement and whatever we can do and the main reason why we are here: for students and student achievement, and we need to make sure we are ready as well,” said Groller. “We (the administration) need to make sure we’re doing our best on improvement and continually advocate for the CTC, but also being involved in legislative action, being involved in that, which we are with PACTA, the Pennsylvania Association of Career and Technical Administrators.”
Groller emphasized communication with its member districts, which includes all six public school districts in Lebanon County, and with the students’ parents.
“Again, to make sure everyone understands that the mission and vision are really important and that’s where we need to be, so that’s important,” she said.
Groller said the center is making improvements to its certification process and NOCTI testing, the latter involving industry credentialing and certifications. She said 42 seniors are in the morning session and, while they won’t get two years of training for it, they still have to take the NOCTI test.
“That’s really crucial to know, trying to get two years of information into one, to take the test,” she added. “That is an area that we have to work, how do we work with that? Typically, all of our seniors are in the afternoon, so again, we’re taking a look at that.”
Groller told LebTown after the meeting that there is no cost associated with crafting a new comprehensive plan.
She told the JOC during her director’s report that the current school year has a waitlist of about 200 students. Welding, automotive and cosmetology are the most in-demand classes; she also cited auto body, diesel and electrical as high demand, and added only a few offerings are not at maximum capacity.
She said discussions about offering full-day programs are in the works, adding that the center is expected to increase by 60 students next year, to a total of 700 students – a move that will squeeze existing facilities. She then said she’s asked a Beers + Hoffman Architecture representative to give an update at the board’s October meeting on the feasibility study it’s currently conducting.
In a follow-up email to LebTown, CTC business manager Tina Geyer said she does not have the total cost of the feasibility study contract but invoices have totaled $17,009 to date.
Groller said the feasibility study is in the design phase, including potential moves throughout the building. She noted the firm is also considering future student counts given that the center’s student population is growing.
Groller was asked by a board member about a breakdown of the waitlist by district, but she said she didn’t have that information available. She listed the aforementioned programs as waitlisted along with health careers, law enforcement, medical assisting and plumbing. When asked, she said the most in-demand class is cosmetology, followed by welding.
She said there are 50 students waitlisted for cosmetology, which would necessitate the hiring of a second teacher. LebTown had reported in 2020 that the CTC was reducing the size of its cosmetology class due to a teacher retirement and only 20 percent of graduates choosing to enter that profession upon graduation.
Read More: CTC reducing size of cosmetology program, exploring web development and logistics as replacements
Of the 22 courses offered at the CTC, five are under-enrolled, according to information provided in the comprehensive plan. Those programs include dental assistant, electromechanical technology/electromechanical engineering technology, media communications, network technology-computer systems networking and telecommunications, and pastry arts.
In other CTC business, Geyer said there is a $712,000 surplus from the 2023-24 school year, and advised the board to retain $100,000 for potential expenses related to the closing of the adult education program and place the other $612,000 into the capital reserve fund for future renovations.
“By transferring the $600,000 that will leave us about $3.5 million in our capital reserves,” she added, later informing LebTown that the money is “revenue in excess of expenditures for the year.”
“We had cost savings in many areas, mainly salaries and benefits due to open positions for long periods of time during the year, Geyer said.
She said they needed to retain the $100,000 in the general fund since monies were not included in the budget for the closing of the adult education licensed practical nursing program. She said there still may be outstanding invoices that may need to be covered since they had retained an individual to administer the remediation process, which is required by law.
Read More: Adult education programs at Lebanon County career center will end in June
Geyer said the CTC administration is appreciative of the JOC’s support and efforts of “trying to retain funds here so that we can do things to the building without having to borrow funds. … We’ve been very successful trying to piecemeal things to this point but we’re at a point now that we have big things that are coming up and we’re trying to save.”
Later, the board unanimously passed a motion to “approve a transfer to the capital reserve fund in the amount of $612,120.51 retroactive to June 30, 2024.” A separate motion as recommended by Geyer was also unanimously approved for the CRC to “approve the CTC to retain $100,000 of the 2023-2024 refund to cover unanticipated costs associated with the closure of adult education programs.”
In other matters, the JOC unanimously voted to:
- Approve the center’s 2024-25 administrative goals. LebTown requested a copy of the goals but was informed that the information contains personnel information that is not subject to the provisions of Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Law.
- Adopt the Health and Safety Plan as provided to the district by the Pennsylvania Department of Education.
- Accept the financial and cafeteria reports.
- Approve budget transfers for the 2023-24 school year totaling $600,254.
- Approve the bills/transfers in the amount of $946,853.17. Included in this amount are the following Capital Reserve Fund checks: Beers+Hoffman Architects, $4,162; Beers+Hoffman Architects, $5,554.80; M. Webster Construction, Inc., $4,000.
- Grant the following staff development requests; Lisa Pison, instructional coach, to attend the PACTA Fall Workshop for CTE Instructional Coaches, State College, Oct. 3-4. Estimated cost of $369. Ian Whitman, masonry instructor, and Josh Boettner, work-based learning coordinator to attend the Masonry Instructors Workshop, Westminster, Maryland, Oct. 7. Estimated cost of $265. Josh Boettner, work-based learning coordinator, to attend the PCEA Conference Strategies for Success in Work-Based Learning, State College, Oct. 17-18. Estimated cost of $875.
- Pay Myerstown-based Blatt & Myers $15,975 for the purchase and installation of air cleaners for the school’s carpentry shop.
The JOC voted unanimously on the following personnel items:
- Accept the resignation for retirement of Crystal Hower, instructional aide, effective retroactive to Sept. 6.
- Grant Thomas Giovarelli, media communications instructor, a leave of absence effective Oct. 22, for up to 12 weeks per school policy.
- Approve the transfer of Nicoletta Lagonis from a long-term substitute for the law enforcement and security program to a law enforcement and security instructor, master’s column, Step 5, with benefits, effective retroactive to Aug. 20.
- Hire Ian Whitman and Josh Boettner for the CTC’s 2024-25 Induction Program at the contract rate of $900 per year.
- Approve 16 student career and technical program advisers for the 2024-25 academic year at the contract rate of up to $1,000 per year.
- Name Kelly Flowers ($500) and Theresa Tobias ($500) as National Technical Honor Society Advisers for the 2024-25 academic year.
- Appoint the Occupational Advisory Committee members and Local Advisory Committee membership lists for the 2024-25 school year. (This information is not provided on the CTC’s website nor was it available at the meeting.)
The CTC’s JOC meets the third Tuesday of each month at the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center, 833 Metro Drive, Lebanon, at 6:30 p.m. Parking and entrance are on the rear (north) side of the building.
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