ALTOONA/BLAIR COUNTY, Pa — The administration of the Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center is under investigation for allegedly mistreating their staff.

The Joint Operating Committee held a meeting earlier tonight.

In an era where fewer workers are entering the workforce, mistreatment of those already in the door is a way to exacerbate the issue..but that’s what school staff say happened here.

“A dissonance in the school between some of the administration and teachers and staff that...has been unresolved for quite some time, and we’re not sure how to fix it.”

That's how Culinary Instructor Heather McCloskey described the situation at the school. She has been teaching for more than twenty years. She says her experience here resulted in her choosing to submit her resignation.

“We do not feel that we are prioritized at all," she said. "Students are only as good as their teachers, and we lack the support necessary to do our jobs at times.”

And she’s not alone...

“Look at the people that you have lost in the last couple of years. Good, strong, decent, committed people. All of them, and they walked out the door, prior to their planned retirement date," said Joe Cowan, who serves as Precision Machining Instructor at the GACTC. "You’re looking at another one here soon.”

A third party is handling the investigation, which GACTC Executive Director Eric Fisher declined to comment on.

McCloskey says she hopes that the culture at the school will be better in the future, after this investigation.

“As things have run amuck in some places that I think it can be righted,” she said.

A timeline for results from the investigation is unknown.

ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7y6iamqRfnL%2BmrdOeqWaZnKm8sLrAZpqaqpWav27AxJyfZpuVo8GmvoyupZ2domK2r8LErKuin5GptrC6jJ%2Bmq2WdnsC1vsSaq6adnql6sLKMrKuanpY%3D