Jeff Tech Operating Committee meets, gets new enrollment numbers
The Jeff Tech Operating Committee met on January 23 sporting new t-shirts in honor of School Board Appreciation Month. The green shirts with gold letters read “We Are” on the front and “Jeff Tech” on the back.
The meeting opened with a visit from five gold medal winners from the SkillsUSA District 7 Competition held in Altoona on January 17 (click here for more on this story). These students will compete on the state level in Hershey in April.
School Principal Melissa Mowrey informed the committee that the enrollment at Jeff Tech continues to grow. At the end of the first semester of this school year, the number was at 520. Mowrey said she believes that number could grow to 600 by the start of the next school year. The numbers not only include students from the four sending school districts (DuBois, Brockway, Brookville, and Punxsutawney) but also students from St. Marys and Ridgway.
“We’re pretty excited,” she said. “A lot of preparation, but we’re ready to go.”
Eighth grade students from the four sending school districts will visit the school in February. Elementary students will visit in March.
A Recruitment Fair will be held on February 22 from 5-7 p.m. at the school for high school and adult students. Another fair will be held in March.
In personnel moves, the committee accepted the resignation of School Nurse Donna Overman effective February 14. They later hired Jennie Votano to take her place. They also hired Lisa Penman as the Health Occupations/Medical Assisting Instructor and Ashley Dunn as a full time Adult Education Piratical Nursing instructor.
Business Manager Sherry Hassleman informed the board that preliminary budget information for the four sending school districts will be distributed, and she stressed that the information was just preliminary.
“There’s a lot still in flux with these numbers,” she said.
During that discussion, she mentioned the need for additional staff due to the increased number of students expected to attend Jeff Tech. This will mean increased budget amounts for the four sending school districts.
Committee Chairman Dr. Fred Park from the Brookville School District said that was to be expected.
“…we need to keep in mind too that [as] we’re growing here, it’s going to cause our shares from our home districts to grow,” he said. “But we’re grateful for the growth that’s going on here.”
The 2023-2024 budget will be presented at the committee’s March meeting.
