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Director urges review of VoTech charter; board to discuss opening charter to change entry point and expand capacity
Summary
Director Harlacher recommended pursuing changes to the county VoTech charter to allow later entry (junior/senior year), create part-time/dual-enrollment pathways, and expand capacity; the board scheduled conversations with VoTech leadership and the district solicitor to explore charter amendments and operational options.
Director Harlacher told the board she attended a regional meeting where Lehigh representative Kurt Adam summarized how tech schools deliver programming and described structural limits at the county vocational-technical (VoTech) school. Harlacher said the current entry point — essentially selection in eighth grade — creates a constrained "closed tube" that accepts about 425 students while roughly 1,000 applicants go unmet each year. "We ask eighth graders, what do you wanna do for the rest of your life?" Harlacher said. "If you think you wanna go into the trades, fill up this application ... and those 425 get into the program. The other 600 are not."
Harlacher urged the district to pursue charter changes to allow part‑time and later-entry options, such as allowing juniors and seniors to attend for certificate programs that often require two years. "We think it's better for our students to be able to delay the entry point into the vocational to the junior senior year," she said, noting that certification programs can often be completed in two or three years.
She outlined several operational constraints: VoTech is treated as a full-time, standalone school for membership and PIAA athletic classification, and member districts collectively share responsibility for the institution's debt. Harlacher said the board will meet with VoTech leadership later in the month and that Jeff Litz, the district solicitor, will attend as legal counsel for both bodies. "Jeff Litz is both our solicitor and their solicitor," she said.
Why it matters: Changing the entry point or adding part-time pathways could increase opportunities for district students to access career and technical education without leaving their home high schools or losing access to home-district athletics. The discussion also has financial and governance implications because member districts share debt responsibility under current charter arrangements.
What’s next: District leadership will meet with VoTech leadership and legal counsel to explore charter amendment options, potential part-time programming, and seat allocation changes. No formal board vote on charter changes was recorded in the transcript.
