York County School of Technology

Worst nightmare of my life was spent going to Adult Ed, LPN school at YCST in 2010. The teacher they have teaching Fundamentals of Nursing is a diploma nurse from the 70's who they pulled out of a 10 year retirement to teach. During class, she would tell us she was too busy taking A&P at Penn State to read the teaching guidelines for our class so she would give us all the answers to our tests instead of actually teaching us the material. When she did give us instructions on how to provide patient care, she would give instructions that were in direct conflict with information we had just read in our texts the night before, which would state, "this is the old way to do this, but for the last 10 years, it is now done this way..." She taught us to measure in cc's only -- nothing about ml's. Early on our class president went to the director, Barbara, and she just shrugged her shoulders and said, well, I don t know what to tell you. Then we found both the director and teachers, Pat and Diane, would hold grudges against anyone who complained about the way they did things. I know a girl who is pursuing her Bachelor's just so she can go back and replace the teacher there because it is so horrible. Alot of people think YCST is a good alternative to college, but YCST fails over two-thirds of the class just to say they have a tough and great program ! The truth is they go out of their way to use "crazy-making" tactics to make you feel like a failure and then literally fail you to justify it. Ask anyone who's attended their program or google the term "crazy-making" and you'll see what we mean. They act like it is the students but I made it 5 months and saw a CNA with 14 years of experience make A's in class and yet they failed her in clinicals and kicked her out of the program just because they didn't like her. Buyer beware!!

York County School of Technology is by far one of the worst schools in York. Their teachers are mediocre at best; add to that that most are completely inept in their fields.

In certain shops, the students are used as free labor. In Baking, the students mostly do "production". This is where they make cookies and the occasional cake to be used in their in-school cafe. Not only are the students not gaining the proper training the school promised, they aren't even allowed to by the very product they made at a discounted price.

Another issue with the school is it's attempts at quieting any news of the violence instead of stopping it. Students and teachers live in fear of the more violent students and the rest of the faculty ignore it or keep it from becoming too public.
I know what some of you are thinking. Why haven't the parents done anything to stop it. Trust me, it's not for a lack of trying. Another side of YCST is it's casual way of punishing the students or students of any parent who "makes a fuss."
Essays and reports that were turned in on time suddenly get lost or a teacher blatantly accuses a student of not turning it in on time. A student who is constantly picked on and says something and the next time he/she is being bullied the teacher "by chance" happens to always be looking the other way. Students who make a fuss will out right be refused a pass to get to an appointment with guidance counselors and even classes in some circumstances.

Though there is much more, I'll lastly touch on one more instance of the ineptitude of the faculty. As students have now reached their senior year are the counselors "assisting" them in college options; something most schools begin freshman year.
Because of this, they are overwhelmed and are turning students seeking help with college options away or setting up appointments several months into the year.

YCST is more concerned with public appearance then it is with the education, training or the well-being of it's students. This school is the prime example of what not to do.

York County Tech is more interested in numbers in the school then actually educating children. It has turned into a sad place. Once it was starting to get rid of an image of slow tech and now it is slow tech. Once it prized its students and now it counts its students. The test scores have dipped in the last three years and it is a result of Superintendents who beleive tech schools are alternative schools. With the best money can buy in equipment, they send kids who don't want to be there and their students who score poorly on tests so they can turn around and blame the tech school. The kids who should be gaining in technical careers don't go because to the stigma given to the school. York, you superintendents will have this school empty in 10 years with no full time students. A real shame and they ought to be ashamed of themselves.