The Union City Area School District has 78 of its students enrolled in the Erie County Technical School (ECTS)for the 2026-27 school year, with total enrollment at the ECTS at 1,075, which is at 90 percent capacity. Of that, there are 34 students enrolled in the Transition Center.
The Transition Center is for students with varying levels of special needs. They are learning a variety of skills in the hospitality field, from cleaning rooms to the proper way of making a bed.
Union City School Board member Stephen Gilbert is the liaison to the ECTS’s Joint Operating Committee (JOC), or school board. He reported those enrollment numbers to the Union City board during the board’s Oct. 8 meeting.
ÒWe are pushing max capacity up there,Ó Gilbert said.
He said the school purchased a bulldozer for $79,000 for its heavy equipment operation and repair lab.
The Erie County Community College was awarded a $1.2 million grant. Gilbert said the ECTS will benefit from that grant.
ÒThis money will go toward upgrading our Skills Center building,Ó he said.
Gilbert also reported the ECTS solar panel project is moving forward, and building permits have been issued. He said groundbreaking was expected to take place the week of Oct. 12. The ECTS is planning to install a 1,500-kilowatt solar array project that will span 10 acres with a goal of providing significant energy savings and reducing carbon emission, according to published reports.
The project is expected to realize a savings of about $15,000 per month for taxpayers, while generating about $75,000 annually in savings.
ECTS students will participate in the installation of the solar panel project, which will be located behind the Skills Center building.
The ECTS has applied for a PennDOT Heavy Equipment Grant.
ÒFifty-five other schools and organizations have applied,Ó Gilbert said. ÒThere is a total $12 million pot.Ó
Toyota of Erie conducted a sales drive in August, and for every car or truck sold, $200 went to the ECTS for a total of $30,000, Gilbert said.
The Diggers and Dumpers event was held in September, and 500 middle school students attended, along with 900 to 1,000 ECTS and approximately 600 community members.
The JOC is the governing body of the ECTS. The JOC is composed of one elected school board member from each of the 11 participating school districts. Those districts are Fairview, Fort LeBoeuf, General McLane, Girard, Harbor Creek, Iroquois, Millcreek, North East, Northwestern, Union City and Wattsburg. The Corry and Erie school districts have their own technical schools.