County rejects city MTC vice chair
School board members gave no reason for discarding long-standing traditions
Rockingham County representatives on the Massanutten Technical Center governing board opened Monday night’s meeting with an expression of disrespect for the board’s senior member.
The chair and vice chair of the board traditionally rotate between Harrisonburg and Rockingham County school board members, who jointly govern MTC. Jackie Lohr, senior member of the county board, is chair this year. Andy Kohen, the longest serving member of the city School Board and the MTC board, was nominated for vice chair.
County board members Hollie Cave, Ashley Burgoyne, and the county’s current chair, Sarah Horst, all voted no on Kohen’s nomination. Lohr was the only county member to vote yes. All six city board members voted for Kohen. County member Matt Cross was not present.
County members gave no reason for their vote against Kohen. The vast majority of chair and vice chair elections on local boards, councils, and commissions are unanimous.
There was no other indication of the simmering issue between county and city over MTC, that being whether the county will choose to build a new center without city input, and whether county members will try to change the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the localities.
Votes on the MTC board are 50-50. The county wants to make that 80-20. The MOU is normally renewed every three years. It was on the agenda Monday, but no action was taken. In the absence of a renewal, the existing agreement continues to be in effect.
The MTC board passed a $7.6 million budget for the coming fiscal year without comment. Funding for MTC falls into two categories: secondary and administration, $6.3 million in the proposed budget; and continuing education, $1.3 million. Of that amount, $6.2 million would come from local funds, and the remaining $1.4 million from state and other funds. The local funds would be $1.8 million from Harrisonburg and $4.4 million from Rockingham County. The proposed budget includes a 3 percent raise for MTC teachers and employees.
Three construction companies are planning to bid on a possible new MTC, county superintendent Larry Shifflett told the MTC board. City superintendent Michael Richards asked what parameters the companies had been given, and if he could be given a copy of those parameters. Regardless of his intent, his request made clear that county leaders are not fully including city leaders in their plans for MTC’s future.
Edited to add: Shifflett agreed to provide the document Richards requested.