The Lebanon County Career and Technology Center board received a feasibility study update, approved a new comprehensive plan, and hired a new administrative director during its monthly meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
In an action item that involved a unanimous vote of the board, also known as the Joint Operating Committee (JOC), the members agreed to hire Charles J. Benton as the CTC’s administrative director beginning on or before Dec. 16.
Benton replaces Andra Groller who resigned her position at the Sept. 17 meeting, effective Dec. 31. No background information was provided about Benton nor were his credentials discussed by the JOC during the meeting.
Benton’s contract runs through June 30, 2029, according to an administrative director’s agreement that was posted with the agenda on the CTC website. Terms of the contract include an annual base salary for this school year that’s prorated based on his start date.
Additionally, beginning with the 2025-26 school year and each subsequent school year during the pact, the administrative director will receive a 4 percent increase to his annual base salary, effective July 1 of each fiscal year.
The contract also contains a $50,000 life insurance policy that includes accidental death and dismemberment benefits, long-term disability insurance based on two-thirds of his monthly salary, not to exceed $3,500 per month, and $350 per month for health insurance.
Also at the meeting, representatives of architectural firm Beers + Hoffman and Devopar Consulting provided an update on the CTC’s feasibility study, which LebTown finally learned after the meeting costs about $64,000 when it was approved to commence in late April.
Read More: CTC board approves needs study, hears complaint about nursing program closure
Scott Shonk, principal for Beers + Hoffman, said the study is being conducted in three phases: discovery, design, and compilation.
“What we’re bringing to you is the first piece, the discovery piece,” he said. “This is the critical piece to get right from the start, understanding the programs, what’s working, what’s not working curriculum-wise, building-wise, facility-wise.”
As part of the study, the CTC is taking a comprehensive look at its current and future needs, including curriculum and infrastructure.
Shonk said Chris Celmer of Devopar Consulting would discuss student and curriculum data, including how many people are graduating, how many are entering the workforce, the number of jobs available to graduates, and what all of the data means to the CTC’s programs and the community.
Following that presentation, Ken Kauffman of Moore Engineering will present a review of the current building’s mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems.
“Moore Engineering went through, walked through the building to look at the HVAC system and the plumbing and all those things. So we’re trying to get a good idea of what the facility components are as we move forward with any sort of renovation and/or addition potential of, you know, what the infrastructure looks like,” said Shonk. “So those are critical.”
Celmer told the board that the final programmatic report will be about 180 pages and is divided into three sections: evaluation of current programming and how it ties into the current job market, both in Lebanon County and other regions around the CTC; potential programs to be added; and high-interest programs based on student input and data.
“Part B is those (potential) programs discussed with the administration that they may be interested in reviewing that were on their radar and did a similar evaluation,” said Kauffman. “Many of the components and the categories, once the report is finalized and you’ll be able to review it, is looking at similar data, but just from a different lens, and that’s why we split – basically split – it into the three buckets.”
Celmer said his company analyzed the 22 current secondary programs offered at the CTC and will provide analysis by categories of current enrollment, course completion and certification. Other components of the report, which will be presented to the CTC administration and the JOC when completed, includes post-secondary data.
“We looked at the sending district information so you can see for your own district, based on a three-year window of the number of students coming from your districts to the programs,” said Celmer. “Then we started to look at the – basically the SOC codes and tried to match up the job market to what programming is being offered.”
He noted the report will include projected job market needs by 2032, annual demand and wage classifications, the latter divided by what he said are entry-, annual-, and expert-level salaries.
“And then so basically we did that overall by state, and then we started to break it down by region,” added Celmer, who noted the information is divided into south-central Pennsylvania and includes the same data for Berks and Lancaster counties.
Another component to the report is the student satisfaction analysis.
“You’ll be able to see that data, look at what the students are feeling and think about the program that’s currently being offered. Again, the sources of that data are there, which were the senior exit surveys,” said Celmer. “And then at the bottom of each report, we add accommodations of what we’ve seen, and then we offer recommendations, thoughts for the administration and the board and the joint operating committee to consider as things are moving forward with this project, with this planning, and how the program should connect as the CTC moves forward.”
Kauffman highlighted major building components and gave an overview of their current operational conditions. He said the last comprehensive review of the building’s mechanical systems was 16 years ago, when certain changes were made with other technical upgrades occurring since then.
He said decisions will need to be made concerning system upgrades based on their life cycle, where that piece of equipment is on that timeline and whether it makes economic sense to make improvements sooner rather than later – especially since major renovations at the center are being discussed.
One example he gave was the lighting system. While the current system is fairly young, much more energy-efficient and therefore cost-effective LED lighting is now used in commercial buildings like the CTC.
Kauffman also said that at least one infrastructure system is in critical condition.
“As we start to look at the piping, your piping is now 58 years old in this building. There’s definite signs of issues related to that both on HVAC, on plumbing, underground, above ground,” he said. “I mean, it’s in dire need right now to have some work done to it. Certainly, trying to deal with that prior to what you want to do with this building is probably not wise. It’s probably wise to make that part of the (overall) project.”
Kauffman said items that were replaced 16 years ago have about a 20-year lifecycle, so discussing making changes to those systems means the JOC is in a “good spot right now to start looking at this.”
Shonk re-emphasized that the firm will look at how the curriculum and infrastructure needs tie together. The HVAC report will be distributed first to the JOC in the coming days, with the mechanical report ready in early November. Shonk said the design phase should start in late January.
“Again, this is the discovery phase. This is about what you’re doing, what your building is like,” he said. “I know we’re all chomping at the bit ourselves, too, getting into the design. And then design starts talking about what costs are going to be. We are starting out with that design piece.”
The JOC approved its new comprehensive plan for 2023-26, which includes a new mission statement eliminating references to adult learners.
The mission statement now 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 51-page comprehensive plan can be found here.
In other actions, the board unanimously voted to:
- Sign a contract with Lancaster-based 1st Light Coaching and Consulting LLC for coaching services in the amount of $300 per session, effective through Dec. 31.
- Accept the financial, cafeteria and student activity reports.
- Approve paying bills totaling $1,49,174.28.
- Hire Vickie Arnold as a substitute instructor and health room assistant for the 2024-25 academic year for $140 per day.
- Authorize the following staff development requests: Michele Werni, cosmetology instructor, to attend the AVTEC Fall Meeting, Ebensburg, Oct. 25, at an estimated cost of $358; Wendy Barrett, English instructor, to attend the Integrated Learning Conference, State College, Nov. 6-8, at an estimated cost of $1,116; and Lisa Pison, instructional coach, to attend the Integrated Learning Conference, State College, Nov. 6-8, at an estimated cost of $643.
- Approve the minutes of their Sept. 17 meeting.
Following the meeting, the JOC entered into an executive session to discuss personnel matters.
The JOC meets the third Tuesday of each month at 6:30 p.m. in the board/conference room (D-144) at the school, at 833 Metro Drive, Lebanon.
Questions about this story? Suggestions for a future LebTown article? Reach our newsroom using this contact form and we’ll do our best to get back to you.
Free news isn’t cheap. If you value the journalism LebTown provides to the community, then help us make it sustainable by becoming a champion of local news. You can unlock additional coverage for the community by supporting our work with a one-time contribution, or joining as a monthly or annual member. You can cancel anytime.
More Top Stories
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.
