Board keeps Hill Farm operating through 2025 after Penn State Extension presentation

The Harrisburg City School District board voted to rescind the termination of the district’s license agreement with Wild Heart Ministry for the Joshua Farm (also called the Hill Farm), keeping the agreement in effect through Dec. 31, 2025, after a presentation on the farm’s education and food-access work by Penn State Extension staff.

Penn State Extension educator Robin Perry Smith told the board the Hill Farm partnership has served students, seniors and families in South Allison Hill and helped address food insecurity while providing hands-on farm-to-school programming. "Food is the problem, but food is also the solution," Perry Smith said, summarizing the rationale for pairing nutrition education with local food production.

Perry Smith described the project’s background and quantified recent results: after the district returned the site to partners in mid-2023 and the team replanted, the Hill Farm harvested about 2,200 pounds of produce in the initial months and educated roughly 355 people. Since 2023, the presenters said, the partnership has hosted 27 educational events, brought 516 students to the site, produced and distributed more than 5,000 pounds of produce overall, logged some 132 volunteer events and distributed over 3,000 pounds of produce into the Lisonbee Hill neighborhood.

Denise Bridal, representing partners involved with youth programming, described a six‑week summer stewardship program that combined leadership instruction with hands-on agricultural tasks, and urged the board to sustain the site for multi-year planning. “We want to keep the main thing the main thing, our youth,” Bridal said, describing how farm activities connected to workforce and leadership opportunities.

Perry Smith and Bridal outlined next steps for sustainability: formation of a multi‑sector farm steering committee, Penn State Extension serving as a liaison between the school district and farm partners, and shared measurement and communications to qualify for multi‑year Farm to School grants. They recommended stable control of the property to enable multi‑year planning; Perry Smith said university and grant funders are reluctant to commit to multi‑year grants if control of the site can be revoked year to year.

Board member Autumn Anderson asked how much additional produce would be needed to supply school meals. Perry Smith said the farm’s manager and Hill Farm staff would quantify that but emphasized the team’s immediate priorities are education, taste testing and reviving community gardens at schools rather than attempting to supply all meal needs overnight.

Following the presentation, Superintendent Dr. Benjamin Henry recommended the board rescind the termination of the license agreement with Wild Heart Ministry, allowing the license to remain in effect through Dec. 31, 2025 while district staff and partners plan longer-term arrangements. The board approved the recommendation.

District staff and the presenters said they will continue quarterly reporting to the board, form a steering committee with a board representative, and pursue shared measurement and funding aligned with Farm to School grant timelines.

The decision maintains farm-based educational programming, youth stewardship opportunities and a local source of fresh produce for community distribution and school engagement while the partners and board develop a longer-term governance and funding plan.