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The Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center passed a $12,541,550 preliminary budget for the 2025-26 school year, leveraging its strong financial position from increased state subsidy and employee health insurance savings.
Business manager Danielle Mehalick laid out the proposed budget during a Monday night meeting, where she discussed plans to use the new funding to upgrade the building's HVAC control system and improve the computer networking program.
The GACTC is nearing the end of a multi-year employee health care "right sizing" effort, Mehalick said, which allowed the school to realize $500,000 in premium savings beyond the initial $100,000 it had budgeted under the current Blair County Schools Health Insurance Consortium program, of which it is a member.
According to Mehalick, this amounted to a 10% cost decrease under the current agreement.
This effort includes ensuring all employees are classified under the correct insurance coverage type -- single, married or family -- and budgeting based on their real expenses, she said.
In addition to the insurance savings, Mehalick hailed the "strong support" the school has received from the state in the past few years.
According to the proposal, the GACTC is expected to receive an increase of $308,376 in career and technical center subsidy funding in the upcoming state budget, Mehalick said.
Mehalick said that the current HVAC control system used in the 215,000-square-foot building is "obsolete" and will need to be replaced in the near future.
Currently, when one of the control panels breaks down, Siemens has to "salvage" the necessary parts to repair the panel from other buildings since they are no longer in production, Mehalick said.
The 2025-26 proposed budget includes a $200,000 increase to account for the control panel upgrade project.
Mehalick said the HVAC project will be conducted separately from the project detailed in the ongoing facility feasibility study conducted by Crabtree, Rohrbaugh & Associates.
The budget also includes a $50,000 increase to revamp the computer and networking technology program, which was at the brink of closure due to a staff vacancy outstanding since 2022, but has since recovered with the hiring of a new teacher to lead the program, Mehalick said.
According to the proposal, the program is "not current to the standard required" and will undergo a collaborative process between the new teacher, occupational advisory committee and other stakeholders to determine how best to proceed with the program.
The GACTC currently provides 25 vocational education programs for about 1,100 secondary students drawn from eight member districts from across the region, as well as a number of programs for approximately 200 post-secondary students.
Mirror Staff Writer Conner Goetz is at 814-946-7535.