(10/27) More students are applying to Adams County Career and Technical Institute (ACTI) than the school can fit. To meet the demand and expand its programming, ACTI hopes to build a new campus. The school currently occupies a building on the Gettysburg Area High School campus.
ACTI Administrative Director Sean Eckenrode told the Fairfield Area School District Board of Directors during its October study session that 212 students applied for 147 spots last year. ACTI offers Culinary Arts, Allied Health, Criminal Justice, Building Trades, Early Learning Education, Computer Networking, and Diesel Mechanics. Eckenrode said that half of the school’s students enter the workforce immediately after graduation. He added that 120 graduates received 456 industry-recognized credentials and 231 college credits through the program.
Business support
Jeffery Newhouse, director of operations for Fairfield-based Bertelsmann Printing Group; Chris Blackwell, general manager for Liberty Mountain Resort in Carroll Valley, and Kaycee Kemper, vice president of the Adams County Economic Alliance, attended the meeting to express support for ACTI.
Newhouse said Bertelsmann Printing Group questions its future in Adams County. He believes an ACTI expansion will ensure the area has a qualified applicant pool for its needs.
New building needed
Eckenrode noted that 18-20 percent of students in most Pennsylvania counties attend technical high schools. Due to space constraints, 6.4 percent of Adams County students attend ACTI.
Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates conducted a study for ACTI pro bono that showed ACTI should be offering 14 programs and have space for 632 students.
The new building will require 140,000 square feet, with 80,000 devoted to learning spaces, Eckenrode said. No available vacant buildings in the county meet those requirements, he said.
Funding requirements
The school is seeking grant money, but first, it needs to form an authority to collect the money and govern its use. Pennsylvania municipal authorities are created to finance or operate specific public works projects without tapping the general taxing powers, according to the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Adams County Commissioners awarded ACTI a $500,000 grant using COVID-19 relief money, Eckenrode said, but it cannot collect or use the money until it forms an authority.
FASD Board President Jennifer Holz asked her colleagues to appoint Lashay Kalathas to represent the district on the authority. Kalathas currently serves as an alternate on the ACTI Joint Operating Committee.
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