Long-Term Planning
This webpage contains information about ACTI participating district educational leaders’ efforts to provide more career and educational opportunities for their high school students.
It is helpful to have a basic understanding of how career and technical education works in Pennsylvania and the history of career and technical education in Adams County as compared to other counties in PA.
Information, History and Updates
In the late 1960s – early 1970s, there was federal money made available to states to establish career and technical education (CTE) schools (they were called vocational-technical schools then). States could choose to use the money in establishing secondary CTE schools or post-secondary CTE schools (now typically recognized as community colleges). Pennsylvania chose to primarily use the funds to establish secondary technical schools.
CTE in Pennsylvania is regulated by the Bureau of Career and Technical Education (BCTE) of the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE).
Regulations governing CTE in PA can be found in PA School Code (primarily Article XVIII), Chapter 339, and Chapter 4.
Although schools are relatively free to offer their students a variety of electives such as Family and Consumer Science (FCS) courses or Technical Education (Tech-Ed) courses, career and technical education (CTE) courses/programs are a bit different – CTE programs must be approved, and maintain approval, by the BCTE. Obtaining and maintaining approval comes with some financial benefits as outlined below.
In order to obtain and maintain program approval by the BCTE, CTE progams in PA must:
- Establish and maintain advisory committees
- Any school with BCTE approved programs must have a Local Advisory Committee (LAC) that consists of business and industry representatives, public sector employers, agriculture, labor organizations, community organizations, postsecondary education institutions and the general public. This advisory committee meets at least once each year and gives advice to the board and the administration concerning the program of the school, including its general philosophy, academic and other standards, course offerings, support services, safety requirements and the skill needs of employers.
- Area career and technical schools (ACTSs) that serve multiple districts – such as ACTI – must establish a Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) composed of the cheif school administrators (superintendnents) of each participating district and the director of the ACTS. This committee meets once each month and advises the ACTS board and the administration concerning the educational program and policies of the school.
- Each approved career and technical education program must also establish an Occupational Advisory Committee (OAC). A majority of the members of this committee are employees and employers in the occupation for which training is provided. The committee meets at least twice each year to advise the board, administration and staff on curriculum, equipment, instructional materials, safety requirements, program evaluation and other related matters and to verify that the programs meet industry standards and, if appropriate, licensing board criteria and that they prepare students with occupation related competencies. This committee ensures that our progams are integrated with local business and industry and that we are meeting the workforce needs of local business and industry.
- Be in session for a minimum of 360 hours each school year – 2 hours/day for a 180 day school year.
- Perform a local Labor Market Analysis to determine the need for the program and to continue to offer the program. This includes annual letters of support from local businesses and a standing agenda item to confirm the need for the program at every Occupational Advisory Committee (OAC – see above) meeting.
- Integrate industry certifications into their curriculum and offer these certifications to students. Some examples offered at ACTI include: PennDOT Cat 1 and Cat 3 Inspection License, ServeSafe Manager, OCAT (Pepper Spray), CompTIA A+, EKG/ECG Technician, OSHA-30, and CDA.
- Offer a post-secondary connection. This could be a College in the High School class, an articulation agreement with a specific school, or an apprenticeship advanced placement agreement.
- Have a standards-based curriculum developed around a state-approved Program of Study Task List. These task lists were developed by and are reveiewed and edited every three years by business and industry professionals from across the state to ensure it remains up-to-date. Local Occupational Advisory Committees may recommend “local tasks” to be added to their schools’ task lists to ensure local workforce needs are being met.
- Integrate Career and Technical Student Organizations (CTSOs) into their curriculum. ACTI’s main CTSO is SkillsUSA. This is a student-run organization in which students can compete against students from other technical schools in the area they are studying. Students first compete at the district level, then state, and finally national.
- Test their students with an end-of-course NOCTI test. This is a nationally recognized test to assess the quality of the students who complete the program – think of it as a Keystone test for their technical program area.
- Be subject to a civil rights review and audit to ensure our programs are accessible to students with disabilities.
- Be subject to an Approved Program Technical Evaluation every 5 years. This is the primary accountability method that BCTE uses to ensure we are meeting all of the above requirements. It is a three-day review of all the components listed above plus a walkthrough and discussioin with every teacher to ensure our programs are of good quality.
- Secondary CTE Subsidy (SCTES) – Understanding that CTE programs are expensive to operate, PA School Code provides the Secondary Career and Technical Education Subsidy (SCTES) for every student (more students = more money) in an approved program. ACTI receives this subsidy on behalf of participating districts and credits each district their allocation in our budget. In 23-24, ACTI received approximately $354,000 for this subsidy.
- Perkins V grant – This is a state-administered federal grant intended to improve CTE program quality. It comes with typical federal grant guidelines including application and reporting requirements. The allocation is based on Average Daily Membership (more students = more money) and ACTI’s allocation is typically approximately $121,000.
- Supplemental Equipment Grant – This is a standard line item in the PA budget. There are requirements and limitations for how the money is spent but it is non-competitive – all you need to do is complete the application and you receive your allocation based on the formula related to Average Daily Membership (ADM) (more students = more money). ACTI has received this grant every year of our existance and our most recent allocation was approximately $73,000.
- Competitive Equipment Grant – Like the name implies, this is a competitive grant. In your application you must complete a convincing narrative as to why you should receive the grant for each piece of equipment requested.
PA School Code provides for school districts in Pennsylvania, typically along county lines, to join together to establish career and technical schools. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, most counties in PA did just that.
There were some counties that did not establish a county-wide technical school or jump into a regional effort. Some of the smaller, sparsely populated counties were included in “attendance areas” of nearby counties and have been able to offer career and technical education to their students for many years.
Several counties – some more populous (Lycoming (#29/67) and Adams (#31/67)) and some a little less populous (Pike (#41/67) and Wayne (#43/67)) did very little to establish career and technical education for their students in the way that other counties did.
Although written history is a bit difficult to come by, Adams County educational leaders did make an effort. An Adams County Area Vocational Technical School Authority was established. This authority would have been needed to finance the building of a school but, for reasons that now seem vague and uncertain, the project was abandoned before construction of a school began.
Another effort to bring career and technical education to Adams County was made in the 1980s. A group of “interested businessmen and community leaders” formed the Adams County Area Trade School non-profit organization to promote their efforts. Their vision was the Penn-Mar Institute of Technology (Penn-Mar Tech) – a three-year post-secondary institution in a to-be-renovated vacant building in the New Oxford Industrial Park. Penn-Mar Tech would partner with the Johnson School of Technology in Scranton, PA for administrative functions. Governing boards were established; committees were formed; feasibility studies were conducted; surveys were given and results collected. Despite the final recommendation that Penn-Mar Tech was needed and work should continue, the project seemed to have fizzled out with any substantial renovation being started.
In the very late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s, the Gettysburg-Adams Area Chamber of Commerce had an Education Committee that was very active in trying to bridge the gap between education and business. They examined the Pennsylvania Youth Apprenticeship Program (PYAP) and Tech Prep (a 4+2 , 3+2 or a 2+2 planned sequence of study in a technical field beginning as early as the ninth year of school. The sequence extends through two years of postsecondary occupational education or an apprenticeship program of at least two years following secondary instruction and culminates in an associate degree or certificate.) Although not well documented, their efforts seemed to have led to the formation of the Adams County Tech Prep Consortium; an agreement between all six Adams County school districts to establish a tech prep Allied Health program in partnership with Harrisburg Area Community College. Over the next several years, additional programs were added; some in the tech prep model and some were simply career and technical training designed for immediate employment following high school. These programs were the Adams County Tech Prep programs that were “owned and operated” by the Gettysburg Area School District on behalf of the other Adams County school districts and would ultimately become Adams County Technical Institute.
In the early 2000s, Upper Adams School District left the consortium in favor of entering into a “participating district” agreement with the Cumberland-Perry Area Career and Technical Center.
In 2016, discussions about separating the Tech Prep programs from the Gettysburg Area School District began. The discussions centered around using the Tech Prep programs as the foundation of establishing a jointly owned and operated “area career and technical school” like almost every other county in PA had done 50 years ago. All districts desired a “seat at the table” and the ability to participate in decisions about what programs to offer and how the money was spent. It was also desired to work together through a jointly-owned educational entity to allow districts to more easily expand career and technical education as a group rather than as individual school districts and offer more choices for all students in the community.
In the fall of 2019 and in accordance with PA School Code, the five remaining districts that participated in Adams County Tech Prep developed Articles of Agreement, passed resolutions to establish and participate in an “area career and technical school (ACTS)”, and all required documents were submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Education. The State Board of Education approved our request to establish Adams County Technical Institute and we officially began operations on July 1, 2020.
In accordance with PA School Code and the ACTI Articles of Agreement, ACTI is governed by a Joint Board – all school directors of all participating districts (45 people!). To make it more manageable, each participating district appoints one representative and one alternate to the ACTI Joint Operating Committee (JOC). The JOC meets once each month and is authorized to conduct most of the business of ACTI. Some decisions require the affirmative vote of two-thirds (this translates to 4 of the 5 districts for ACTI) of the Participating Districts and a majority vote of all the school directors of all Participating Districts (the Joint Board); those decisions include:
(a) The operating budget for the Career Center;
(b) Creating or increasing indebtedness;
(c) Selecting a site for a school;
(d) Purchasing, leasing, condemning, selling, or disposing of land or buildings; and
(e) Entering into contracts for a building, construction or alteration project if the amount of the contract, or total project is $500,000 or more, and if the amount of such contract or project has not been itemized in the current annual budget as approved.
Content in this section continues to be built out. The most recent happenings are here but some of the older actions still need to be added for this section to be complete. Please check back often until this message is gone.
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Since its establishment in July of 2020, the ACTI Joint Operating Committee, administration, and advisory committees have been exploring possibilities to expand career and technical education opportunities for students in Adams County and to help meet the workforce needs of the county and region.
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Although different possibilities such as satellite programs at participating high schools and leasing space for additional programs were discussed, it was decided to explore the possibility of building a technical school as the preferred method since Adams County did not build one 50 years ago.
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Below is a timeline of some of the efforts to expand to date. Newest efforts are first:
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October 16, 2025 – A Community Information Session for ACTI Expansion was held in the Gettysburg Area High School Auditorium.
- The purpose of the session was to provide and clarify information to the community about our efforts so far including the cost of building a new facility. A means was provided for community members to ask questions through a Google Form – see link below under Frequently Asked Questions. Answers to questions asked in advance of the presentation were incorporated into the presentation or answered directly. Community Information Session for ACTI Expansion presentation.
- Video of the Community Information Session for ACTI Expansion.
August 28, 2025 – Superintendent/Business Manager Meeting
- Superintendents and Business Managers met to discuss the affordability of the project ($75M was the “all-in” number considered).
- Each district’s short- and long-range capital improvement plan was considered.
- Based upon that context, Superintendents and Business Managers determined the affordability range to be between $35M-$55M.
- A significant delta was identified ($40M).
- A general discussion was held about options for a smaller project or how to make up the difference through grants and state and/or federal funding requests.
August 27, 2025 – ACTI Joint Operating Committee Meeting
- Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates provided a short presentation to update construction costs of the ~142,000 square foot facility recommended in their initial presentation.
- PFM Financial Advisors provided a presentation of options for financing the purchase of a building site.
August 12, 2024 – ACTI Authority Meeting
- The ACTI Authority met for the first time. Bylaws were passed. Officers were elected. Executive Assistant appointed. Purpose of the Authority was discussed.
March 2023 through present – search and analysis of potential building sites
- ACTI initially identified 7 potential building sites – 4 additional sites came to our attention and were included in the analysis.
- Crabtree Rohrbaugh & Associates coordinated a civil engineering firm to analyyze the sites for suitability including, topography, forestation, potential for bedrock, potential wetlands or flooding possibilities, availability of utilities, and suitable building acreage.
- Most of the sites have been rejected for one reaason or another but we continue to analyze one site for feasibility of moving wetlands.
March 23, 2023 – ARRF Grant Award
ACTI was awarded a $500,000 grant through the Adams Response and Recovery Fund (ARRF) to purchase land to build a technical school in Adams County. Funds must be spent by December 2026.
Below are video clips of a presentation given by the ACTI Director to a group of local business leaders in December 2023. It is very similar to the presentations given to all participating school boards during the fall of 2023.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions and the corresponding answers will be added to this section as they’re received. If you have a question, please submit it by completing this online form.
There have not been ACTI-specific studies however there is no reason to think that ACTI graduates or the Adams County area is significantly different than other regions where studies have been conducted.
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Some results from studies that have been conducted show (comments in blue are ACTI-specific):
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- Higher local retention rates for two-year colleges: Although ACTI is not a two-year, degree granting college, the training that we offer is similar. Graduates from two-year institutions are more likely to settle down near their alma mater than graduates from four-year institutions. For example, a 2018 study noted that 61% of community college graduates stay within 50 miles of their school, compared to about 40% of four-year university graduates.
- Focus on local labor demand: Community college programs are generally shorter in length and often tied to specific occupations in the local economy, such as nursing or welding. This makes their graduates more likely to stay in the area to work where their specific skills are in demand. All ACTI programs are required to have an Occupational Advisory Committee comprised of individuals from local companies who work in the training occupation. They review our curriculum, facilities, safety practices, and recommend purchases of supplies and equipment to meet their workforce needs, ACTI is the training facility to meet the workforce needs of local businesses.
- Real-world experience builds local ties: As part of their curriculum, many CTE programs emphasize work-based experiences, internships, and job exploration. These connections can help build strong ties with local employers and increase the chances that graduates will stay in the area after completing their program. See the previous bullet point. Additionally, ACTI has a Cooperative Education program for many students in which second-semester seniors can work at local companies in paid positions and finish their training on the job. It is a very structured program in which a training plan is developed in cooperation with the school and company, a training agreement is approved so that all entities know what is expected of them, the students return to the school about once per week, and the Cooperative Education Coordinator visits each student on the job once per month. Many of these Cooperative Education positions result in full-time employment offers upon graduation.
- Strong results in specific regions: In some states, studies have confirmed this trend with specific data. In Pennsylvania, for example, 80% of community college transfer students who graduated from a state university remained employed in the Commonwealth three years after graduation.
- Contrast with four-year universities: In comparison, graduates of four-year universities, especially those from more selective schools, have a much higher rate of geographic mobility. They are more likely to move to major metropolitan areas, leading some states to be net “exporters” of their university graduates.
We survey our students just before they graduate. Each year there is a pretty even balance with about 50% of them intending to continue to post-secondary school, about 50% of them heading straight for the workforce, and a few of them heading into the military. The vast majority continue in careers related to what they studied at ACTI.
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It makes sense that about 50% continue their formal education because some of our programs, such as Criminal Justice and Allied Health, require post-secondary education for many careers in those fields. In those programs, we offer the opportunity for students to earn college credit while they are taking our programs which helps them with the cost of college.
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We also participate in a post-graduate survey with the Pennsylvania Department of Education. This survey is conducted one-year after graduation and simply checks to see how many students are still engaged in the career fields they studied in high school. Our results of that survey are typically over 90% continuing to be engaged in the field they studied at ACTI.
We have good data for the debt service we would incur over the next 20 years if a bond were issued.
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We have compiled data of all the county-wide career and technical schools in Pennsylvania to compare operating costs of various schools. We have also projected our staffing needs and confirmed by comparing them to similar sized schools.
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Like most schools, ACTI’s typical operating budget is 80-85% personnel salaries and benefits so staffing will be the largest component of an annual operating budget. Most of our funds for equipment are provided through various state grants specifically for career and technical education.
ACTI industry partners support this project.
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We are in a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg situation right now…which comes first…school district commitment or business and industry commitment? Although we don’t have formal commitments, we are confident that industry supports the project and eventually will donate money and/or equipment (we saw that with the New Oxford High School project a few years ago) but they are waiting to see if the school districts are fully committed to the project. And school districts are concerned about the cost and how much our industry partners will support us.
“If there is space available” is the key here. Currently, there are only a couple seats available in one or two classes. We turn away about 25-30% of the high school students who apply each year. Based on the number of applicants each year, our Diesel Technology and Allied Health programs could easily be two-teacher programs if we had the space available.
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Across the state, we know that some secondary tech schools mix adults with their high school students and some do not. Those who do not want to avoid the obvious potential problems that would be created by mixing adults in with teenagers.
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Night classes for adults are definitely being considered however, you always need to be careful to ensure that the adult programs are self-sustaining – they need to be somewhat profitable or at least break even so that taxpayer money is not supporting adult courses where adult tuition should be supporting the adult courses.
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One of the challenges of not having a tech school in Adams County is that we DON’T have a place for adult evening classes. At a recent workforce development meeting, someone was discussing having an adult HVAC class in Adams County but I asked, ” Where are you going to do it?” We don’t currently have an HVAC lab with the necessary tools and equipment to teach a course like that even if we wanted to.
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We receive regular phone calls about adult classes, so we feel there is enough interest in adult evening classes to consider that as part of the project. Currently, most options for adult classes are at the York County School of Technology, Cumberland-Perry Area Career and Technical School, or Franklin County Career and Technology Center – all of which are about an hour away.
We have given this considerable thought and discussion including soliciting input from several other similar-sized schools.
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The bottom line is that we need to properly staff the school in order to accomplish all of the work required to operate in accordance with PA School Code and PDE regulations.
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Below are the positions we would likely need to operate a bigger tech school. (Positions in blue are current staff)
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Director
Asst Director/Principal/School Safety and Security Coordinator
Admin Assistant/ Attendance Coordinator/PIMS Coordinator
Business Office Coordinator/JOC Secretary
Human Resources/Payroll/Business Office Assistant
Workforce Development Coordinator (Cooperative Education and DO Coordinator)
CTE Teachers (currently 7 – will need 14 or however many programs we end up with)
Certified School Nurse
Counselor
Special Ed Coordinator/Teacher
Paraprofessional (Special Education/Student Support) (2-4)
Maintenance/Facilities Manager
Custodian (2)
Yes!
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All ACTI programs, current and future, welcome guest lecturers/teachers, business and industry representatives, and post-secondary representatives to come in to the school and speak to our students. In fact, we actively seek out opportunities for our students to connect with local organizations to reinforce what we are teaching.
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If you are interested in becoming involved in one of our programs, please review the Programs menu on our main page and contact the teacher of the program in which you are interested.
All ACTI programs, current and future, are open to students from all five participating districts. Each district gets an allotment of seats based on their proportion of the overall 9-12 high school enrollment. Example: if a district has 18% of the overall 9-12 population of the five participating districts, they will get 18% of the seats in each ACTI program. There will be some rounding up or down based on the calculations, but our procedure is as fair as possible.
Some definitions may be in order here.
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In PA there are two main types of secondary CTE schools – full-time comprehensive and part-time occupational.
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Full-time comprehensive schools include all academic courses that students need in order to graduate as well as the career and technical education programs. These schools are typically 9-12 and once a student is accepted, they have very little connection to the traditional high school in their community. There are only a few of these schools in the state (York County School of Technology and Dauphin County Technical School) and they are expensive to operate. I will include your term of “dedicated tech high school” as this type of school.
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Part-time occupational schools do not offer academic courses (or maybe just one or two) and focus on career and technical education programs. ACTI is this type. They typically operate on a half-day rotation and provide 2-3 hours of CTE training per day at 2-3 different levels.
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Our current goal is not a “dedicated tech high school” however to expand what we currently offer, we need additional space. Since we do not have a building of our own (we operate out of GASD facilities that are not able to be expanded upon), we need to build the building from the beginning.
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Nothing prevents us from building a dedicated technical high school except for the known disadvantages of that model – primarily it is 2-3 times more expensive than a part-time occupational model.