The East Stroudsburg Area School District board discussed a potential arrangement to allow district students to join Wallenpaupack Area School District’s protective‑services career‑technical program, which offers law‑enforcement, emergency‑medical‑technician and fire‑service training across a three‑year cohort.

Board members were told the Wallenpaupack program runs as a cohort: sophomore year covers law enforcement, junior year covers EMT, and senior year covers fire training. The program uses regional training resources and certified instructors and issues industry certifications the students can use to seek employment immediately after graduation.

The presenter said Wallenpaupack has seats for the coming school year but described administrative and budgetary hurdles. Under the district’s current understanding, students who enroll in Wallenpaupack’s program would have to withdraw from East Stroudsburg and enroll in Wallenpaupack; that pathway would trigger a charter‑style tuition charge, which the presenter said Wallenpaupack currently calculates at $22,000 per student per year. The presenter asked the board whether it wants staff to pursue lower‑cost alternatives, including (1) working with the district solicitor to confirm whether withdrawal is required, (2) exploring a bus‑and‑partial‑tuition model where East Stroudsburg keeps students enrolled while paying a portion of tuition, or (3) becoming a CTC partner on an articulation agreement that could eliminate the tuition charge.

Board discussion addressed logistics and equity concerns: transportation time for students from northern and southern parts of the district, whether students would retain home‑school status for athletics and clubs, and how to allocate seats among students. Board members also noted that Monroe‑area regional partners and the Monroe County Career & Technical Institute (MCTI) have limited capacity; the presenter said MCTI turned away a substantial share of applicants this year because of seat limits.

Board members asked for more details on cost and timing before any commitment. The presenter said Wallenpaupack is planning construction of a new CTC facility and expected to provide an annual per‑district cost estimate by the fall; the presenter also cited a working estimate for capital needs in the millions of dollars and said Wallenpaupack expects to open new programs in the later part of this decade. The board requested that district legal counsel examine whether students must technically change enrollment to access the program and whether an alternative partnership or prorated tuition arrangement is feasible.

A board member accepted an invitation to join Wallenpaupack’s Occupational Advisory Council for protective services so East Stroudsburg would have a local representative on curriculum and industry‑advisory discussions. The board agreed to pursue follow‑up meetings with Wallenpaupack and MCTI and to schedule a tour for trustees and curriculum staff.

Why it matters: the program offers industry certifications and potentially direct employment for graduates, but the district must weigh student access, transportation, budget impact and whether students would retain East Stroudsburg home‑school status.

Next steps identified at the meeting: solicitor review of enrollment/tuition mechanics; follow‑up meeting among East Stroudsburg officials, Wallenpaupack leadership and MCTI representatives; and a possible board tour of the program in September if schedules allow.