JACKSON TWP — Seneca Valley’s school board will vote on whether to approve the 2026-27 vo-tech budget next week.

The board’s representative on the vo-tech joint operating committee, Tim Hester, recommended approving the budget.

Regina Hiler, director of Butler County Area Vocational-Technical School, presented next year’s budget to the board at its Monday, March 2, meeting. The proposed total budget is just over $7.41 million.

“Last year, we voted no on the budget ... There were several areas that we had to talk about,” Hester said. “Dr. Hiler is a superstar. She and her staff came to us, faced us, and we had the hard conversations. And there’s some very creative things she did to make sure this budget was under control.”

Last year, Seneca Valley’s board voted against the proposed vo-tech budget, citing concerns over the long-term direction and “operational efficiency” of the vocational school’s programs. The board had asked that each program be evaluated to ensure space, staff and resources were being used effectively, with a focus on prioritizing programs that align with the greatest student interest and future workforce demands.

“The other issue we had is that we had some courses that saw very small participation. Those have all been corrected,” Hester said.

The majority of the vo-tech’s budget goes toward salaries and employee benefits. Hiler said Monday funding will go toward salaries of 44 employees, as well as wages for areas such as substitute pay, education instruction and an additional police officer present on campus.

Last year’s budget was a 7.6% increase year to year in its operational budget. The 2026-27 proposed increase is less than half that, around a 3% increase.

Board members voted 6-0 against the budget last year, while three were absent. Seneca Valley was one of two schools to vote against the proposed budget last year. Knoch School District’s board also voted against last year’s budget. Others unanimously approved it.

The process of approving the vo-tech budget involves two significant steps: an approval by five of the seven participating school boards and approval by a majority of all individual school board members.

Individual votes are cast by anonymous ballot. While they aren’t due until March 30, the majority of Seneca Valley’s school board members handed their votes to Hiler Monday night.

Multiple board members took time to praise Hiler and the work the vo-tech does.

In recent years, the number of Seneca Valley students attending the vo-tech has significantly increased.

“15 years ago, we had about 90 kids attending the vo-tech. And we’ve over doubled that,” DiTullio said. “The other thing is that the vo-tech itself has increased 50% in enrollment over that 15 year period.”

Board members attributed the growth in recent years to people realizing vo-tech provides career paths for students and can help avoid college debt.

“Some might say, ‘you’re a large district.’ It doesn’t matter. We’ve, for a long time, been a large district and haven’t had the enrollment numbers that we’re seeing, we’re right under Butler,” superintendent Tracy Vitale said.