Harrisonburg board rejects Rockingham County changes to MTC operating agreement, directs counterproposal

The Harrisonburg City School Board on April 10 unanimously rejected a redlined memorandum of understanding from Rockingham County Public Schools that would have changed the operating agreement for the region’s shared technical center, known in the meeting as MTC.

The board’s vote followed more than three hours of briefings and debate on proposed revisions from Rockingham County that Harrisonburg officials said would diminish the city’s role in governance, seat allocation and leadership. Board members and staff described the county proposal as moving voting control from an existing 50–50 structure toward a heavily weighted split in Rockingham’s favor and placing an arbitrary cap on Harrisonburg seats.

“Some of the changes that are being proposed would diminish our role in that school considerably,” Superintendent Doctor Richards said while reviewing the county’s redline document. Richards said the existing arrangement has operated for 56 years and that Harrisonburg now enrolls about 23 percent of MTC students.

Why it matters: MTC provides career and technical education used by students from both divisions. Board members said the proposed changes would reduce Harrisonburg’s ability to exercise its legal responsibilities for student safety and program access and could affect who controls hiring, budgeting and facility decisions.

Key facts and board response

- Rockingham’s redline sought a shift in voting to a weighted structure (described informally in the meeting as a 4-to-1 voting split in some drafts). Harrisonburg’s presenters said regional practice and regulatory considerations require equal representation for member divisions.

- Rockingham proposed capping Harrisonburg at 20 percent of program seats; Harrisonburg officials said the division already accounts for roughly 23 percent of current MTC enrollment and that seats should be allocated based on total high-school enrollment using the state snapshot (Sept. 30) rather than a hard cap.

- The redline would also remove the Harrisonburg superintendent’s clerical/administrative role on the MTC executive committee, the board said. Harrisonburg and its attorney argued the administrative code and longstanding practice call for a committee of superintendents and shared administrative responsibilities.

The board discussed a replacement package of terms it will send as Harrisonburg’s counterproposal. Those elements, presented and discussed publicly before the vote, included:

- Voting: keep a 50–50 decision-making balance by having four designated voting members from each division at executive committee meetings (all members may attend, but each division designates four voting members at the board’s organizational meeting or by a pre-noticed method that complies with open-meeting law).

- Seats/enrollment: allocate seats program-by-program based on the two divisions’ combined high-school enrollment (state snapshot date) with unused seats offered to the other division, and do not impose a flat 20 percent cap on Harrisonburg.

- Leadership: retain Harrisonburg’s superintendent in the clerical/administrative role to maintain the current shared-administration model and incorporate the committee-of-superintendents language from the Virginia Administrative Code into the operating agreement.

- Executive leadership: preserve the existing practice of rotating executive board leadership (chair/vice chair) between the two divisions; write the succession practice into the agreement and specify procedures if a seat is vacated.

Legal and procedural notes

Joel Francis, the school board’s attorney, told the board that any method for designating voting members must comply with Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act. He recommended that Harrisonburg adopt a public, pre-noticed mechanism (for example, an organizational-meeting vote or pre-declared alternates) rather than choosing voting members at an MTC meeting on the spot. “There are FOIA concerns,” Francis said, arguing for a clear, noticed process so designations are lawful and transparent.

Vote and next steps

Board members moved and seconded a motion to reject Rockingham County’s proposed redline. The motion passed unanimously on a roll-call vote. The board then voted unanimously to direct Superintendent Doctor Richards and school board counsel to prepare Harrisonburg’s written counterproposal (a redline in the board’s preferred form) and return it to the board before sending it to Rockingham County for negotiation.

Superintendent Richards emphasized the district’s preference to keep the shared program and said: “If for some reason the relationship dissolves, we will take care of our students.” The board scheduled follow-up action after the draft counterproposal is circulated and legal review is complete.

Community and process context

The operating agreement has existed for decades and was last reviewed triennially; Rockingham circulated a redline after a series of inter-board discussions earlier this year. Harrisonburg staff and board members said Rockingham’s public release of its proposed changes included factual errors, prompting Harrisonburg to post a fact sheet on its website and to request public comment before any final action. The board invited public comment on the item earlier in the meeting and noted that several public emails and a written statement from the MTC Foundation had been received.

Ending: The board framed its vote as an effort to preserve a longstanding regional partnership while protecting Harrisonburg’s legal responsibilities and student access. The superintendent and attorney will prepare the draft counterproposal for the board’s review.