Board approves ACTI personnel budget amendment after staffing and stipend discussion

The Gettysburg Area School District Board of Directors approved a budget amendment for Adams County Technical Institute (ACTI) personnel, following questions about staffing, market pay and a proposed stipend. The motion passed on a roll-call vote, 6 in favor and 3 opposed.

Board members questioned why the part-time lab assistant role had been difficult to fill and whether a broader compensation review had been completed. An ACTI representative, identified in the meeting as Mr. Eckler, said the district had interviewed three candidates for the part-time lab assistant; one candidate declined because the part-time salary and hours did not match her full-time healthcare pay. “Folks in healthcare make pretty good money, and it was difficult for her to give up her full time job to come and work with us for part time hours and the salary that we were offering,” Eckler said.

Board members also asked about compensation for the superintendent-of-record role and a requested $30,000 salary adjustment included in the amendment. Eckler said the superintendent-of-record is more involved this cycle, meeting weekly with ACTI leadership and actively supporting the project; the amendment included salary adjustments and a stipend for increased duties. “We meet every Monday morning for two hours to discuss ACTI... she is very involved,” Eckler said.

Board member Michelle asked whether a $15,000 stipend for a named administrator (referred to as Dr. Perry in the discussion) was intended to be temporary; staff said whether the stipend continued would be decided by the joint operating committee depending on project progress, and that the land-purchase phase was expected within months while the full project could take three to five years.

The board’s roll-call was recorded as: Alice — yes; Al — no; Michelle — no; Ryan — yes; Mike — yes; Jeremy — yes; Kathleen — no; Tim — yes; and the board president recorded yes. That produces a 6-3 majority in favor.

Separately, board members discussed an informational item to secure emergency nursing services for ACTI students. Staff explained that the request was for emergency responses only: if a student at ACTI required urgent nursing care (for example, a significant injury), the Gettysburg High School nurse would be asked to respond and the district would reimburse the high school for the nurse’s time. Staff said the arrangement did not include routine collection of external students’ medical records; coordination of individualized plans of care would remain with the home district nurse.

Provenance: Topic intro evidence excerpt: “On the 6.1 is the ACTI 2526 budget amendment for personnel. May I have a motion please?” Topic finish evidence excerpt: “Roll call. Alice? Yes. Al? No. Michelle. No. Ryan. Yes. Mike. Yes. Jeremy. Yes. Kathleen. No. Tim. Yes. And I vote yes.”