The days of parking for free on Gettysburg Area School District grounds in Gettysburg Borough and walking around town may end. At their meeting on Monday, the board voted unanimously to enter into an agreement with Parking Management Company to manage parking at Lincoln Elementary and Gettysburg Area Middle schools.
“We are not aiming to charge to park for a school event that is happening,” Board Member Alice Broadway said.
Board President Kenny Hassinger said most people who park at the school are from out of town. Board member Tim Seigman, who chairs the district’s Finance and Facilities Committee, added that tour buses often cause damage to school grounds.
“We are voting to allow this parking company to come in and put this software in place that generates revenue for the district and safeguards our facilities,” Board President Kenny Hassinger said.
Hassinger added that fees have not yet been determined. The agreement is for six months from the date it is executed. Superintendent Jason Perrin said it may be a few weeks before the contract begins.
According to information provided in the board packet, the district will incur no up-front costs. Parking Management Company will split revenues 50/50 with the district. The company will also be responsible for all software costs, signage, and labor.
Budget Passes
The board voted 8-1, with Cynthia Ayers in the minority, to raise taxes 1 percent for the 2024-25 school year. District Superintendent Jason Perrin said the increase is primarily needed to support funding a new career and technical education center. The increase follows a zero percent increase last year and, if enacted, would create an average 0.67 percent annual increase over the past 7 years.
During the public comment portion of the meeting, several members of the Amblebrook Gettysburg community questioned the need for the tax increase. Most of the commenters said they were new to Pennsylvania and unfamiliar with the state’s tax structure. One added that when he purchased his home, the seller touted that Pennsylvania does not tax pension plans but failed to mention how schools are taxed.
Perrin said the district controls about 2 percent of its total budget, and those line items have not increased since 2026-17. Hassinger criticized the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for forcing costs onto the district.
“They are shoving a bunch of unfunded mandates at every public school. They are hammering us and not giving us the money to do it,” he said. “I am not going off on the politicians, but they have not helped us.”
Board member Michelle Smyers concurred, adding that the district provides less for its students than it did when her children began attending 30 years ago.
“When my older children came through, it was not uncommon for the district to have boxes of crayons, pencils,” she said. “When my youngest came through, I had to provide him crayons, I had to provide him notepaper, I had to provide pencils.”
The board thanked the residents of Amblebrook for attending the meeting and encouraged them to continue asking questions.
Alex J. Hayes has spent almost two decades in the Adams County news business. He is passionate about sharing stories focused on the people in our communities and following local governments in an age when few journalists report on their meetings. Alex is also a freelance writer for several other publications in South Central Pennsylvania. Alex encourages readers to contact him at ahayes83@gmail.com.
Alex I appreciate your reporting of the school board meeting but you failed to mention that the board is receiving $2,000,000. This year that they didn’t have last year from the Amblebrook community and next year they will receive double that and so on as the community grows. There long term planning does not take that into account as they raise taxes on a electric that doesn’t use any of there services. Also the house just passed a bill that has 1.5 billion dollar fund for school districts to draw on for reducing their school tax. Hopefully it will be… Read more »
Gettysburg Connection received this message from GASD administration relating to this question: The Gettysburg Area School District Board of Directors approved a budget on Monday that includes a 1% tax increase. This increase will help fund the district’s contribution to the Adams County Technical Institute’s (ACTI) building project. The project is a collaborative effort, with four other districts paying their respective portions of the funding.
Alex, as you mentioned in your last article about GASD (https://gettysburgconnection.org/gettysburg-area-school-district-honors-retirees), some people from Amblebrook wanted a two tier tax system since they don’t have kids in school. This begs the question about a great majority of us who no longer or never have had children in school. GASD cannot afford a two tier tax system. Neither can we long-term taxpayers. Since 1972 we have been paying property tax.
I support public education and vocational fully, however, the GASD VOTEC serves students from 5 of the 6 districts in Adams. It would seem to be more equitable and appropriate for the increase to be shared by all Adams County residents, not just the homeowners living in the GASD boundaries. Surely there is another way to do this.
I believe all 6 of the schooldistricts are contributing to the new Votech facility.
Yes, they do contribute for the students they send, but it appears GASD homeowner’s share the burden of the tax increase alone.
School Taxes should not need to go up with all the new tax payers moving in to our new developments.
Locals should not have to pay to park at schools when we already pay tax for schools.
School Administrator do not need pay raises as they already have amazing salaries.
Thanks for reading and being considerate.