Mifflin County SD officials weigh options after welding instructor resignation; ninth-graders paused from enrollment

Mifflin County School District staff updated the board on efforts to fill a vacated welding instructor position and said they will not admit ninth-graders to the program for the coming year while recruitment continues.

District and career-technical staff reported they have been advertising the position, reaching out to Penn State instructors, other career-technical centers and local partners, and notifying parents of currently enrolled students. “Ultimately, my goal is to not shut the program down and still be able to give the current students that are currently enrolled in the program the ability to get through the program and have certifications,” the CTC administrator said.

The update matters because the program feeds credentialing and workforce pathways for students in the region and because schedule and application deadlines at home high schools come earlier than general course scheduling, staff said. The district estimated 19 students attend the morning session and 20 attend the afternoon session of the welding program; administrators said they want to avoid giving families false hope while protecting students’ access to credentialing.

School staff described their plan and timeline: because the instructor role requires an extensive combination of industry experience and credentialing under Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) rules and Penn State enrollment requirements, administrators set an internal decision review date of March 1 to assess applicant viability. Staff said two applicants have recently applied, and several others had expressed interest in the past but lacked required qualifications or cited wage concerns.

If a qualified instructor is not found, district staff said they can operate the program through the 2025–26 school year so that current seniors can graduate and current 11th-graders can return and complete the program. Students who complete at least two years are considered concentrators under PDE guidelines and would be eligible to continue toward certification; staff said seniors and next year’s seniors would have the opportunity to sit for an AWS (American Welding Society) basic certification if the program cannot be fully staffed.

To protect younger students, administrators said they decided not to admit ninth-graders into the welding program this recruitment cycle. Missus Dressler, the district career coach, worked with home-school guidance counselors to give those ninth-graders alternate second choices and to preserve the option of switching into welding if a certified instructor is hired later. “The idea was, let’s not give anyone false hope that that was absolutely going to happen,” the CTC administrator said, describing conversations with families and counselors.

Board members urged continued outreach and retention efforts. Mr. Baker, a board member, recommended avoiding public statements that the program is closed because “if we say it’s closed, it’s gonna be, in my mind, a problem to get it reopened.” Board members also pointed to recruitment models used elsewhere: one board member read a notice citing a $199,840 state grant to North Hills School District for welding training and asked whether the district could pursue similar incentives or partnerships.

Staff explained the certification and qualification pathway for prospective instructors: typically four years or 8,000 hours of paid welding experience, an occupational competency exam, Penn State registration for internship certification, and then college coursework (roughly 60 credits) for vocational certification. Administrators said emergency or pandemic-era waivers used in other subject areas do not apply to vocational welding certification.

The board and staff discussed interim options: using substitute instructors and local staff supports to maintain instruction continuity, and tapping retired or part-time industry partners to provide demonstrations or partial coverage. Gordon McKee and Mr. Seimley were mentioned as staff who have helped in the past and could provide short-term coverage; staff said substitute coverage would not fully replicate a certified instructor’s continuity but could keep the program running while recruitment continues.

Votes at a glance — during the same meeting the board voted on personnel items including advisory and administrative approvals. The board approved the spring Occupational Advisory Committee roster, adopted Administrative Compensation (Act 93) plans effective July 1, 2025, and approved a contract continuation for Mark Crossen as acting principal for July 1, 2025–June 30, 2026, at $350 per day.

The district said it will continue recruiting and will follow up with ninth-graders if a certified instructor is hired; in the meantime families were given alternate options for students’ course plans. Administrators and board members asked staff to continue outreach to industry partners, CareerLink and other schools and to report back to the board as recruitment progresses.