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Central York directors warn York Tech budget cuts will lengthen student bus rides
Summary
Directors raised concerns after York County School of Technology revised its 2026–27 budget, trimming a proposed tuition increase from 6.78% to 4.59% largely by reducing transportation service. Board members said the change could extend student commutes to about two hours and remove planned buses, and described contentious deliberations at the JOC.
Central York School District board members criticized revisions to the York County School of Technology 2026–27 budget that reduce planned transportation services and lower an earlier tuition increase.
"We were originally on track to make [transportation] better before this fight happened," Director McMillan said, describing how the tuition increase was cut from 6.78% to 4.59% and transportation items were scaled back. Board members said the change will reintroduce very long bus rides for some students and remove buses that had been planned to shorten travel times.
Board members described a contentious Joint Operating Committee process. "People were gaming out loud whether shutting down this proposal would lead to a better outcome," Director Milson said, noting that new JOC members opposed the previously negotiated plan. Director Walker said the change could worsen long travel times and increase walking distances to bus stops.
Administrators and directors said some transportation reductions were driven by district members focused on lowering cost increases for their home schools. School leaders described the cuts as saving roughly $450,000 in the York Tech plan but warned that program quality and students' daily experience could suffer; the revision also removed at least one position and some curricular equipment purchases.
Board members urged continued attention to the issue and said the affected districts would watch the impacts closely if the revised budget is adopted on a subsequent vote. "There's definitely a sense among the people that were in the room last month that they're not going to forget about it," one director said.
The board did not take a separate formal vote on the York Tech revision at this meeting; members discussed the likely political dynamics on the JOC and the potential for renewed debate at the next round of votes.
