Board approves Upper Bucks Tech budget despite two no votes citing transparency concerns

The Pennridge board voted to approve the Upper Bucks County Technical School (UBCTS) 2026–27 general fund budget in a contested roll call at the April meeting.

Multiple board members raised concerns before the vote, saying they had not received sufficient answers about the tech school’s request for additional funds and that the sending districts deserved clearer explanations. One speaker asked why the tech school was "requesting an additional ninety-nine thousand dollars" while retaining what was described in the transcript as a "refund of ours of a hundred thousand." Several board members said that level of transparency would have made them more comfortable supporting the request.

During roll call the board recorded six votes in favor and two opposed. The transcript records the roll-call sequence with votes by name: Mr. Kaufman — Yes; Mr. La Fever/LeFevre — Yes; Mr. McMullen — Yes; Mr. Mac Bodden — Yes; Mrs. Ranch — Yes; Mrs. Gerena — No; Mrs. Taylor — Yes; Mr. Troger — No. A speaker subsequently clarified that the joint board of directors (27 members from the three sending schools) had already approved the tech school budget prior to Pennridge’s vote, meaning the district’s vote was advisory to its own internal representation in the joint process.

The board also approved the UBCTS capital reserve budget and several related JOC actions, including acceptance of a PDE supplemental equipment grant of $271,000 and allocations for SkillsUSA national participation.

Next steps: Board members requested better coordination with sending-district business offices and an improved process for future articles-of-agreement and budget development.