Four northern Pocono school districts want to share a career/tech education center

Wallenpaupack, Western Wayne, Wayne Highlands and Delaware Valley school districts are pursuing a centralized, shared career and technical education center (CTC).

Out of the 67 counties in Pennsylvania, only Wayne and Pike counties lack a CTC.

The purposes are to widen the skill training options for all students; provide adult career training; support high-priority occupations in northeastern Pennsylvania; and to do this in a fiscally responsible way.

Local officials brought their case to the Pennsylvania House Republican Policy Committee on Sept. 19 with hopes of gaining support to help fund an estimated $50 million project.

Participants included Rep. Joe Adams (Pike and Wayne) and Rep. Jonathan Fritz (Wayne and Susquehanna). Rep. Joshua D. Kail (Beaver and Washington) is the chairperson. Wallenpaupack hosted the session at its high school auditorium.

For nearly 20 years, school district and economic development officials in this area have worked toward building career readiness for students so that when they graduate high school, they have refined their goals and work skills.

In the meantime, the school districts have separately developed their own Career Technical Education (CTE) curriculums, some unique to each district and others duplicating.

One proposal is to erect the CTC facility on the available Wallenpaupack school grounds near the North Primary School, about midway for the four districts involved. Sterling Business & Technology Park off I-84 Exit 17 in Wayne County is another identified option.

“Given our location in the Northeast corridor and the rapid population growth, these areas need a skilled workforce,” Adams said. “I’m grateful to Chairman Kail for his interest in this important topic on educational pathways.”

“Technical and vocational programs serve as a pipeline toward hope and opportunity,” Kail said. “These programs provide students practical, real-world experiences, family-sustaining careers, and zero college debt which gives them an advantage when life's challenges are hurled in their direction."

Wallenpaupack Superintendent Keith Gunuskey, Joann Hudak with Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance and Marybeth Wood, executive director of WEDCO (Wayne Economic Development Corporation), testified and answered questions.

Pursuing technical and vocational education is essential to building economic development in Wayne and Pike counties, according to Wood.

“Just as we need enabling infrastructure to grow our communities, such as roadways, utilities and industrial sites, we need educational infrastructure to address the people side of economic development,” Wood said. “Job creation is a measure of success in economic development — jobs are filled by people. In Wayne County, we take the approach that workforce development is economic development.”

Wood noted that when Workforce Wayne was being developed, spearheaded by WEDCO, there was a recognition that the county's lack of a CTC was a disadvantage for local students, businesses needing a skilled labor force and economic development efforts.

Two Wayne County companies she cited are Sutphen East Corp., manufacturer of fire engines, and BOYCE Products, Ltd., a custom contract furniture and fabrication firm. Both need highly skilled workers and support the local training a CTC could provide.

Hudak said that the notion that everyone should go to college may be outdated. She recommended that other options should be considered, and CTCs allow students to explore a range of options for their career goals.

“We have created this mindset to go to college, figure out what you want to do, graduate and then hopefully get a job,” Hudak said. “The formula should be to ask where the jobs are, what the skills are for these jobs and what related education is needed. Using this approach, our school systems are working side-by-side with our workforce and economic development partners to give our students high-quality work-based learning experiences.

During Hudak's tenure as an administrator at Wallenpaupack Area School District, she oversaw the Career & Technical program. In 2005, she became a founding member of Workforce Wayne, now known as Wayne Pike Workforce Alliance. She was a high school principal when she was invited to a meeting in Honesdale exploring how to keep their high school graduates here and build up the workforce.

"What I came to realize was what a disconnect between education and workforce and economic development. We as educators … nowhere in our training do we learn anything about preparing kids for the future."

A CTC can also serve adult workers needing to augment their skills or obtain certifications. Hudak said that presently, those workers go to Lackawanna or Luzerne counties for the training. A local CTC could offer that training, whether after the normal school day or side-by-side with high school students, as is done at the CTC in Susquehanna County.

“Since there is no CTC, programs at the high school level are unnecessarily duplicated,” Gunuskey said. “Creating a CTC and consolidating programs would create additional opportunities for students. The goal will be to ensure every student, regardless of their district, can call the Wayne/Pike CTC their home.”

While the new CTC would serve students from all four school districts, some current CTE programs would be kept in their high schools, and they would be considered satellite campuses. As an example, Gunuskey said that Honesdale has a great Agriculture program with a new greenhouse, labs, and so on, and would stay at Honesdale. The same would hold true for Delaware Valley's programs. Each district has a general automotive program, he said, but a CTC could allow them to have specialized programming.

He said that the CTE programs at the four districts are “top notch.” At Wallenpaupack, 31% of students are enrolled in CTE programs, which Gunuskey said should rise dramatically with the expansion of options available at a CTC facility.

Currently, students wishing to take a certain career track can take their classes at another school district offering the appropriate program. Gunuskey said it can be disruptive for the student; with a CTC facility, they could remain in their own district part of the school day.

The four districts are currently developing articles of agreement. Once they are approved, they can pursue formal grant requests, Gunuskey said.

The estimated size of the CTC needed to serve the four districts is 70,000 square feet. The estimated cost for constructing and equipping the facility is $40 million, and $10 million for land acquisition and site preparation. Gunuskey said that these costs are meant to cover getting the project started. The districts will form a Joint Operating Committee which will determine how to make the CTC self-sustaining.

Hudak stated that the local parties were nearly ready to start in 2008, when the CTC was delayed by the Great Recession, and more recently by the COVID pandemic.

Fritz commented that this journey that began over two decades ago is meant to “reverse the brain drain our area experiences” with students leaving the area for further education and finding jobs elsewhere.

He suggested that the trillions in federal stimulus dollars approved during the pandemic might help pay for this project.

Asking the committee to take back the funding request to the legislature, Gunuskey added, “It is a worthwhile story we truly believe… Let everyone know they can play a huge role ensuring every student in Pennsylvania, not 65 counties, but every student in Pennsylvania has access to a career and tech center.”

To view the full hearing, go to bit.ly/46mCDWW.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Four districts pursuing joint Wayne/Pike career and tech center