ACCD News & Events

Alamo Community College District Board of Trustees Calls for Bond Election in November 2005

For Immediate Release
August 16, 2005
Contact: Kay Hendricks, Coordinator of Comunication
(210) 208-8006
khendric@accd.edu

At a special board meeting on Monday, August 15, the Alamo Community College District (ACCD) Board of Trustees unanimously called for a November 8 election for a bond issue totaling $450 million. The money will fund improvements at the district’s four colleges—Northwest Vista College, Palo Alto College, St. Philip’s College and San Antonio College—as well as construction of a northeast college and information technology improvements.

In calling for the bond election, the ACCD board unanimously accepted the recommendations of a broad-based Citizens’ CIP Committee, which has been meeting over the past seven weeks to evaluate the district’s needs. The committee is comprised of 27 local business and community leaders.

The district’s enrollment has grown 41 percent in the last six years and now stands at 52,666 for the spring 2005 semester. It is projected to reach 68,800 by the year 2010.

The proposed projects are:

• San Antonio College—$79 million for a new parking garage, academic complex and nursing and allied health complex, classroom reconstruction and expansion of the library

• St. Philip’s College—$67.5 million for a learning resources/distance learning/one-stop student center, renovations to the Sutton Learning Center and Science Building, a nursing and allied health complex, parking lots at the main campus and at the college’s Southwest Campus and a diesel lab building at Southwest Campus

• Palo Alto College—$55 million for new humanities and convocation center, a science and veterinary technology building, an auto manufacturing center of excellence, a one stop student and workforce center, an allied health career center, additional classrooms and conditioning facilities for health education and physical conditioning programs, classroom reconstruction and additional parking

• Northwest Vista College—$106 million for new academic complex, a theatre and fine arts building, a health, fitness and wellness complex, a child care development complex and an allied health and bioscience complex, plus expansions of the learning center and College Commons, additional parking lots and a parking garage

• Northeast College—$125 million for construction of classrooms, a library and administration buildings on 238 acres the district owns at Loop 1604 and Kitty Hawk in northeast Bexar County

• Information Technology—$17.5 million for all colleges to provide for district-wide connectivity, wireless campuses, a cyber-information technology control center, distance learning systems resources, electronic communications systems and network and data security systems

The proposed bond program amount of $450 million would result in an approximate $.03 increase in the district tax rate. For a Bexar County homeowner with a home appraisal of $100,000, the tax increase would be approximately $30 per year. Property owners who are older than 65 or disabled would not be affected by the increase.

The Citizens’ CIP Committee also called for the ACCD board to appoint an oversight committee of citizens to ensure that planned bond expenditures are approved and carried out in accordance with the provisions of the bond projects, as approved by the voters of Bexar County.

Northwest Vista College, Palo Alto College, St. Philip’s College and San Antonio College, the colleges of the ACCD, offer day, evening and weekend classes, plus Internet courses and telecourses. Several of the colleges also offer weekend degree options that allow students to earn a two-year associate’s degree on weekends.

The four ACCD colleges are conveniently located on the southside, northwest, north central and eastside of San Antonio. Classes are also offered at St. Philip’s College’s Southwest Campus near KellyUSA, at the Northeast Campus at 7990 Pat Booker Road, at the district’s Advanced Technology Center at KellyUSA and at off-campus locations, including local businesses and military bases. Tuition at the ACCD colleges is the lowest in Bexar County, and a wealth of financial aid, including scholarships, loans and grants, is available for qualified students.