Lebanon County Career and Technology Center’s adult education programs were on accreditation probation with the state when it was announced in August 2023 that the adult Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) program was ending in June 2024.
Read More: Adult education programs at Lebanon County career center will end in June
LebTown learned this information via a Right-to-Know (RTK) request filed with the CTC, seeking communications between the Pennsylvania Department of Education and the center’s administration.
As previously reported by LebTown when it was announced the LPN program was ending, the stated reasons for shuttering the programs were space limitations and financial concerns – even though a different RTK for the center’s financial records indicates that the program was, in fact, profitable.
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At its Sept. 17 board meeting, business manager Tina Geyer told directors there was a $712,000 surplus from the 2023-24 school year, and advised the board to retain $100,000 for potential expenses related to closing the adult education program and place the other $612,000 into the capital reserve fund for future renovations.
“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,” she said at the September meeting.
The school’s audited financial statement for the 2023-24 school year is not yet available, according to a RTK request, so it was not clear which programs drove the surplus.
CTC administrative director Andra Groller agreed to a 15-minute interview prior to the Sept. 17 meeting of the educational institution’s joint operating committee. Gary R. Messenger, the CTC’s superintendent of record and superintendent at Northern Lebanon School District, also attended that meeting and suggested questions be emailed to Groller.
Groller agreed to answer LebTown’s questions electronically, but a few days after those questions were sent, she reached out to say she had no further comment about the adult education programs, including its LPN program that ended on June 30.
Although all adult programs at the CTC were to end on June 30 after a resolution was adopted on Nov. 21, 2023 by a vote of the JOC, the board changed course on June 18 and reinstated three of them – Pennsylvania Emissions and Safety Inspections and its Culinary and Pastry Apprenticeship programs.
Read More: Career & tech center changes course, keeps 3 of 4 adult education programs
The LPN program was not reinstated. The two adult licensed practical nursing classes that graduated in June were the last to receive degrees through the CTC, ending an LPN program that began 65 years ago.
A total of 31 students from those two classes graduated in June, according to Melissa Furman, the CTC’s former adult nursing program director.
LebTown emailed Geyer several times to enquire how much of the 2023-24 school year surplus was generated after expenses specifically by the adult nursing program, but had also not received a response as of publication to that specific question.
LebTown asked Julia Ansel, the CTC’s former adult program director, if she believes the accreditation probation imposed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Education on Aug. 10, 2023, influenced the JOC’s decision to end adult education programming.
“I do believe that was a motivating factor,” said Ansel. “I was told by the administration that it was committed to righting the ship, but I received very little support in working with the accreditation (process) from both the state and the CTC administration.”
LebTown also posed that same question to JOC chairwoman Ruth Ann Schlegel, who is also president of the Cornwall-Lebanon School District board of school directors.
Schlegel said she didn’t know how much the probation status influenced the decision to close the adult nursing program in the eyes of the JOC members, adding there were multiple factors that led to that vote.
She said discussions about the adult education programs had occurred at JOC public meetings and that other factors had been presented.
However, it appears no public discussion happened on Aug. 15 – five days after the probationary status was announced by the state – during the JOC’s regularly scheduled board meeting.
The only discussion in those minutes about the adult programs concerned the unanimous decision to hire practical nursing instructors/substitutes at the rate of $38 per hour for nursing classes already underway.
On Aug. 10, Karen Molchanow, executive director of the Pennsylvania State Board of Education, informed the CTC via letter that its accreditation was being renewed for one year but it would be probationary status with stipulations. She also wrote that CTC officials had 30 days to appeal the board’s decision.
It appears the CTC chose not to appeal that decision since no documents were included in the RTK. Molchanow followed up with a letter dated Sept. 18, 2023, highlighting the probationary status with stipulations terms.
Molchanow wrote that on Sept. 13 the state board formally voted to commence probation with stipulations for one year based on recommendations from the state Department of Education and the board’s Standing Committee on Career and Technical Education.
During the probationary period, the CTC was informed it must “act to correct all areas of non-compliance with accreditation standards identified in the Department’s final report on LCCTC’s accreditation review” and also “must comply with actions requested by the Department, and the Accreditation Guidelines for Pennsylvania Public Postsecondary Career and Technical Education, to bring the institution into compliance with accreditation standards. The requested actions could include monthly monitoring by the Department, which was established by the Board as a condition of the grant of probationary accreditation.”
The letter further notes that if the state board determines that the necessary corrective actions have been completed in a satisfactory manner, it may consider granting the CTC accreditation for an additional four years. If not met, the state board may consider revoking their accreditation.
A former employee told LebTown on background the CTC is required to undergo an accreditation audit every five years and mini-audits annually. That person also told LebTown that the latest full audit was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered everything but non-essential services in March 2020.
The five-year audit appears to have been launched in late 2022 or early 2023. Email discussions about this process obtained via the RTK state a meeting was held on Feb. 21-22 to discuss the CTC’s accreditation review.
According to other emails, the CTC was asked to supply for the audit various documents about its adult programs for years 2016-21.
Eight days after CTC officials were notified on Aug. 10 that the adult programs were receiving probationary status, the JOC apparently began to discuss ending at least the LPN initiative based on an Aug. 18 email forwarded to Groller from Julia Vicente, the CTC’s former superintendent of record and Eastern Lebanon County School District superintendent.
After noting that “there is no doubt an LPN program is a benefit to the community as it can be a source of health care employees,” Vicente in an email to the ELCO board highlighted a prior change in the CTC administration and declining enrollment in recent years as two factors that negatively impacted the nursing program. (Nothing is mentioned about the status of the other adult courses.)
LebTown asked Schlegel about the short timeframe (18 days) from when the CTC received notification of its accreditation probation status and the JOC’s special meeting to end the adult nursing program. Her response was that she had already answered why the program had ended and that LebTown was referencing dates which she could not verify at that time.
While the nursing program did experience lower enrollment in recent years, LebTown previously reported that CTC officials, including former adult nursing instructor Mark Price, believed the pandemic had taken its toll on enrollment figures. However, Price had also said enrollment numbers were rebounding after the pandemic.
By August 2023, a new class had over 45 enrollees and the class that was set to begin in July 2024 also had another 45-plus adult learners seeking to get their LPN certifications.
Vicente further stated in the board email forwarded to Groller that “through the state audits, the LPN program has maintained its accreditation over the years but with clear areas for improvement noted in the audits. Most recently, the program underwent another audit. The CTC received notice that the program is provisionally accredited with areas of improvement. The accreditation is only in effect for one year.”
During the brief time that LebTown recently interviewed Groller, she indicated that the center’s adult programs had previously been on accreditation probation. Asked when that occurred, Groller said she didn’t know but it was prior to her becoming administrative director on July 1, 2023.
Groller signed a three-year contract on Aug. 15, 2023 (retroactive to July 1) with the CTC to serve as its administrative director through June 30, 2026, but resigned 14 months later. Groller told LebTown that it was time for her to retire following a 38-year education career.
Read More: Lebanon County CTC school director resigns from post before contract ends
Vicente concluded her email to the ELCO board by noting that she “can confirm that 47 letters were sent to LPN students who would begin LPN coursework this fall. The program orientation scheduled for next week will not take place. The JOC is supportive and aware of this action.”
It’s unclear when the decision was made by the JOC to end its adult nursing program since no discussion about adult nursing appeared to have occurred publicly on Aug. 15, according to the minutes. The minutes do indicate that an executive session preceded the board meeting to discuss personnel matters.
After that regularly scheduled meeting, the JOC met in a special session on Aug. 28 and unanimously voted to “cancel the part-time, evening class of the Adult Education, Licensed Practical Nursing Program scheduled to begin in September 2023, and continue through March 2025.”
Then, on Nov. 21, 2023, the JOC approved “the curtailment, alteration and elimination of the LCCTC’s Adult Education Program in its entirety” but seven months later reinstated three adult education programs but not its LPN.
Read More: Career & tech center changes course, keeps 3 of 4 adult education programs
Groller told LebTown at the time of the reinstatements that the reason those programs were restored is that high school students who are CTC graduates would have the option to take additional courses as adult learners.
The first reference to an audit being conducted by PDE for the center’s accreditation review is in an email about meetings to discuss it that were held on Feb. 21-22, 2023.
Other emails show Ansel was instructed to provide state officials with requested documentation, much of which addresses how the school administers its adult education programs. However, several emails from Ansel to Groller express her concerns about the inability to locate requested records from 2016 through 2021.
Ansel noted in an email dated April 12, 2023, that she “joined the CTC in November 2020 and was not granted access to files from her predecessor until it became clear he (former assistant director of students, and prior to that role program coordinator of adult education) was not returning to our school.”
The CTC was eventually given a July 5, 2023, deadline to submit all of the requested documents to PDE.
On Thursday, June 22, Ansel sent Groller an email apologizing for the “state of things as I am finding them. I am trying my best and care very deeply about the future of Adult Ed, especially the LPN program” and notes that she doesn’t believe she will have all of the documentation together in time to meet PDE’s deadline.
She also requested Groller to provide a list of what she believes are the “most essential documents” to be included in the audit.
Apparently not receiving a response from Groller, Ansel re-sent that email on Friday, June 23, with Groller responding that she had received Ansel’s Thursday email. She also told Ansel that she needs to “review the document list sent by PDE, the documents we discussed and the folders Jason sent you.”
Groller forwarded Ansel’s email to Geyer, who later responded to Groller via an email from her phone that reads, “It doesn’t look to (sic) promising.”
The Pennsylvania Bureau of Career and Technical Education’s 25-page report to the CTC notes that the center was in non-compliance in two areas and those received “Beginning” status ratings.
The state’s accreditation audit process includes ratings for how well each documented segment is addressed. Their rating system provides either “Not Met,” “Beginning,” “Functioning,” or “Advanced” designations.
The two “Beginning” status ratings led the state to renew the CTC’s accreditation as probationary with stipulations for one year.
The two sections that received “Beginning” designation ratings were, “Describe how the administration team discusses and reviews performance of adult education” and “Describe how adult student satisfaction/dissatisfaction is evaluated and acted upon.”
The evaluator comments for both of these areas reveal either inadequate or incomplete records being submitted and no evidence of follow-up by the administration concerning both of these requirements.
As part of the critique on how the admin team discusses and reviews performance, the evaluator was especially critical that, “Multiple grade reports from multiple programs over multiple years show attendance data does not align to policy and all of these examples show a final passing grade for the year. In addition, grade reports show that adult education allows minimum passing grade of only 60%. No administrator discussion of this issue or actions taken for improvement provided.”
The evaluator provided eight examples of students who had amassed a number of missed classes, including one student who had 43 unexcused absences and one tardy and another who 52 excused, 11 unexcused absences and 14 tardies.
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Price said he believes CTC officials deflected attention away from the accreditation probation status by preemptively saying nursing enrollment is down and that space was needed for other educational programs for secondary students.
“At the end of the day, that was their whole main reason for getting rid of the nursing program,” said Price. “Instead of looking bad for doing something that they’re getting caught they said, ‘Oh, let’s get rid of the nursing program that has had some issues with enrollment. Then maybe people won’t have questions about our accreditation.’ That makes perfect sense.”
Price said he was unaware that the CTC was on accreditation probation while he was still an instructor there, noting he is not surprised by that news.
“My reaction is that it doesn’t surprise me at all and they probably had at least some amount of foreknowledge that they were going to be on that probation,” he said. “That just doesn’t happen, that’s not just something that out of the blue the state comes and says, ‘Oh, by the way, you have violations of your accreditation status.’ They (CTC administration) would have known about that ahead of time. I am telling you it was a deflection, I guarantee you it was a deflection.”
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