Lebanon County CTC board to update 1964 articles of agreement

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At the Lebanon County Career and Technology Center’s Joint Operating Committee meeting on Tuesday, June 17, the board discussed ongoing efforts to reevaluate the organization’s Articles of Agreement.

This comes as the organization is in the midst of reviewing a feasibility study, performed by Beers + Hoffman, to examine the expected needs of future students and faculty, including the possibility of constructing additions to the CTC building. In March, the board hired Fidevia Construction Management to consult on the study.

CTC director Chuck Benton and board member Gary Messinger said the current Articles of Agreement were established in 1964 and last revised in 1985. The most recent revision, Benton said, includes details that do not match how the organization is run.

One example cited by Benton is that the articles specify that each member school district appoint one school director to the JOTC except Lebanon School District, which is to appoint two representatives. However, the articles available on the center’s website (PDF) reference the most recent update being made in 1997. That document references Lebanon School District newly (as of 1997) only appointing one school director, for a total board of six. As of publication, Benton has not responded to requests for clarification.

The board plans to revisit and update the articles to accurately reflect current processes and match up with any changes made following the feasibility study. After that, they hope to institute plans to revisit the articles periodically so they do not become outdated.

As the board awaits the feasibility study’s conclusion, the board unanimously agreed to hire Deborah Elliott at $15 hourly as temporary administrative help in order to digitize the board’s documents. Paper records dating back to the late ’60s, Benton said, currently fill the majority of a room close to the size of the board room.

Once the documents are digitized, Benton said, the physical documents will be shredded and the room freed up for other use.

The board also unanimously approved a development contract with Rachael Mann for $23,273.50 to provide workshops and coaching to CTC staff regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence, so that they may implement it into their work and teaching.

After the meeting, Benton explained that AI is a growing part of numerous fields and the CTC would like employees to be able to use it effectively.

“If you think about the early 1990s when the internet came around, everybody thought the internet was going away; it didn’t go away,” said Benton. “AI is going to be here, so we need to teach kids to properly use it. So my staff needs to understand it and be proficient in it before we can teach our students.”

Benton said that education surrounding AI will also inform the school’s policies on the tool and its allowed uses in a learning environment, which he said will be important as the center makes other changes following the feasibility study.

In other news, the board:

• Held an executive session concerning personnel and approved multiple personnel actions and appointments.
• Unanimously approved sewer repairs totaling $5,099.05.
• Unanimously approved reports, minutes, and payment of bills.
• Unanimously approved the 2025-26 student handbook.