After 56 years in agreement, Harrisonburg Schools and Rockingham County Schools are in disagreement of their use of the Massanutten Technical Center.
Kevin Hutton has been director of the MTC since 2016 and seen enrollment increase, especially for Harrisonburg Schools.
“We are glad to provide all the career and technical education classes that we can,” Hutton said, however the situation is between the two school systems.
Between 2014 and 2016, when Hutton was assistant director, he saw MTC enrollment reach more than 1,000 students for the first time. Applications have increased while he has been director, which he attributes to Harrisonburg Schools Superintendent Dr. Michael Richards, who is passionate about CTE.
But, the Virginia Department of Education qualifies 18 of MTC’s 21 programs as hazardous and limits class size to 20 students. The 2024-2025 school year also brought the first admissions requirements for first year students getting into their second year.
“Our applications continue to be at an all-time high, which is great,” Hutton said and he attributes that to MTC’s teachers and staff.
With an enrollment of 1,051 high school students for the 2024-2025 school year, Hutton said MTC serves as an adult continuing education facility at night.
“We’re a pretty busy place. We’re a high school facility during the day and an adult continuing education at night.”
A lot of variables make a waiting list for high school students necessary, according to Hutton. Preference is given to juniors and seniors before they graduate and are unable to attend the two-year program, students must meet certain requirements for second year and space is limited per Virginia DOE requirements.
“We definitely try to give every student who wants to attend MTC the opportunity,” Hutton said. Students on the wait list will be at the top of next year’s list if eligible, but the VDOE restriction remains.
When considering placement, MTC looks at dividing enrollment between Rockingham County Schools and Harrisonburg Schools, but most classes allow only 20 students per class and students are coming from six public schools.
“Each division is paying for the slots that they are taking up,” Hutton said of Rockingham‘s 76 percent enrollment and Harrisonburg‘s 24 percent for the 2024-2025 school year. In 2016, he said Rockingham‘s enrollment was 86 percent and Harrisonburg‘s 14 percent.
Richards said no changes have been made to the two school system’s MTC agreement in the six years he has been superintendent. He thinks it’s time for a change to the voting. Harrisonburg has a six-member school board and Rockingham has five members, so, to provide equality in voting, one school board member for Harrisonburg does not vote. State law for regional schools requires that each school board has equal representation.
Rockingham would like to restructure the voting to match its enrollment. VDOE may have something to say about restructuring the vote.
“Anything below 50 percent from my board is a nonstarter,” Richards said.
Until recently, Richards observed unanimous votes between the two school boards regarding MTC. The agreement was not discussed at their last meeting on March 17, but both school systems have shared press releases with media regarding the situation.
Rockingham County School Board Chair Sara Horst has been on the school board for two years and said that in review of the agreement in 2025, it became clear that Rockingham could be outvoted if one board member is absent from a meeting although they have a majority investment in MTC.
“I think we definitely need to have more discussion. We fully understand and appreciate how important it is for our region to have technical training. We love MTC,” Horst said.
She said she understands Harrisonburg‘s position, but hopes that others can also understand Rockingham‘s position. Both school boards must agree to changes and come together to vote on any changes. Horst said that Rockingham sent a proposal of changes to Harrisonburg School Board on March 10 or 11. Harrisonburg can counter propose and Rockingham will consider.
“I think that’s in the best interest of everybody if [we can keep MTC going]. But our priority is Rockingham County students,” Horst said.
She said that enrollment should be 80/20 for Rockingham/Harrisonburg. Right now enrollment for Harrisonburg is 23.5 percent.
“I think that’s great for them. I think it’s great as a whole,” Horst said.
But she thinks that less Rockingham students should be on the wait list for MTC.
“We would like to have a shot at 80 percent of the seats,” she said. She added that the enrollment of one course at MTC is 35 percent Harrisonburg students, while Rockingham students are wait listed. “The demand is just so high for MTC.”
Not every course at MTC has a wait list, but when 1,200 students applied for 2024-2025, some are going to be wait listed.
“I think this is unfortunate that it seems like this could tear a community apart,” Horst said.
She said the school board knows that MTC is “a strong program and will continue to be a strong program.”
“I do think it would be tragic if [the agreement] fell apart,” Richards said.
Richards said that if an agreement cannot be reached between the school systems and the relationship is dissolved, the process would take some time, perhaps up to 18 months.
“We hope for the best outcome and whatever that outcome is, is how we will manage and operate our school,” Hutton said.
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Rebecca Barnabi
