Parkway West presents plan to buy PTC campus as remedy for overcrowding; Mount Lebanon raises cost concerns

Parkway West Executive Director Darby Copeland told the Mount Lebanon Board of School Directors on Oct. 13 that the joint operating committee (JOC) is pursuing the recently closed Pittsburgh Technical College (PTC) campus as the most economical way to add square footage and program capacity to Parkway West Career & Technical Center.

Copeland said the JOC—s facility study produced two options for Parkway—s own campus (one large and one pared back), but that when PTC closed and entered receivership the committee asked architects to compare renovating the current campus with buying and minimally renovating the PTC site. "We purchased a sales agreement to simply take that off the market. It gave us a 240 day runway," Copeland said, describing a negotiated purchase price for the campus itself reduced to about $12.2 million from an initial asking price near $20 million.

The JOC—s architects offered two PTC scenarios: a full renovation option that Copeland said would total about $59 million, and a smaller programmatic/infrastructure option estimated at roughly $47 million. Copeland presented an estimate that, after purchase and the minimum necessary renovations to make the campus functional for Parkway programs, the combined project would be roughly $60 million.

Copeland told the board that PTC offers program capacity not available at the present Parkway campus — including fully equipped operating rooms and spaces that could host revenue-generating evening and postsecondary programs — and that adopting PTC could address a capacity problem that has forced Parkway to turn students away from programs such as cosmetology. Parkway reported 79 Mount Lebanon students currently enrolled and said the district—s students passed NOCTE exams at high rates last year; Copeland emphasized that industry credentials (OSHA, AWS, EMT, CNA, ASE) are paid through Perkins so cost is not a barrier for students.

Board members pressed Copeland on financing and the allocation of cost among the 12 JOC member districts. Copeland said the joint-share agreement written in 1967 allocates capital costs by each district—s average 11th- and 12th-grade membership; under the example Copeland provided Mount Lebanon would carry roughly 17.66% of the district share and could face an annual levy in the hundreds of thousands of dollars depending on term length and interest rates.

On structure, Copeland said the JOC—s proposed financing is planned as a lease arrangement rather than traditional district-issued debt so the purchase would not count against a district—s borrowing limit. He gave a range of likely 30-year bond rates of 3.5%–4.9% and said bond payments could begin as early as March 2026 or be pushed out depending on timing; the purchase agreement Copeland described provides a roughly 240-day period to complete district-level approvals.

Several board members said Mount Lebanon values Parkway programming but cannot absorb the likely added cost under current fiscal constraints. One member noted the district is in the midst of fiscal recovery, including recent staff reductions, and emphasized the board—s obligation not to add unsustainable obligations. Copeland acknowledged that if enough member districts vote no the purchase will not proceed and said JOC leaders have met with legislators to seek supplemental grants but that grant awards require a defined project to apply against.

Copeland also outlined nonfinancial considerations: Parkway has not had a renovation of its 1967 main building and lacks needed garage space for automotive programming; he described the difficulty and high cost of retrofitting heavy-trade infrastructure into older structures. He said Parkway—s out-of-joint-venture (tuition-paying) students have saved partner districts about $4.1 million over five years and that the center—s high credential and placement rates are cited by employers who recruit directly from Parkway.

No formal district vote on the PTC purchase occurred at the Oct. 13 meeting. The superintendent and administration told the board the item will appear on the Oct. 20 agenda for a vote; the superintendent noted he does not recommend approval at this time and will record that position in the certification the JOC requires if the district votes no. Copeland said West Allegheny has indicated it will vote against financing; if enough districts reject the plan the purchase will not proceed.