SAN ANTONIO – The Alamo Colleges District is looking to voters in the May 3 city election to approve a bond package totaling $987 million.
“You could say it’s a big bond, but we’re a big community,” said Mike Flores, PhD., the chancellor of the Alamo Colleges.
While funding several large projects, Flores said the bond is also about filling big gaps in talent and industry.
“We know there’s a gap of 50,000 nurses within the state of Texas and several thousand within our community,” he said.
The bond package includes a proposed $95 million new school of nursing in the Medical Center, which would be part of San Antonio College.
That would make the first Alamo Colleges campus in that area of town.
Making colleges more accessible throughout the city is another big goal of this bond.
The bond also provides the funding for the construction of three other new locations:
- Port San Antonio: School of Emerging Technologies, as part of Northwest Vista College.
- Brooks City Base: Center of Applied Technology, and Automotive and Heavy Machinery Program, as part of Palo Alto College.
- Stone Oak: North Central Education and Training Center
“We’re proposing a $75 million investment there, right up 281 at Borgfeld and Bulverde Roads,” Flores said.
>> Click here for a breakdown of each bond project and cost.
If approved, the bond package will not increase the tax rate for the Alamo Colleges District, Flores said.
Instead, the increase in population will cover the cost of the projects.
A growing population results in a larger taxpayer base.
“Although San Antonio has been growing rapidly, Alamo Colleges have been growing at twice that rate,” Flores said.
Alamo Colleges has a student enrollment of 80,000 this spring. That number is expected to rise to 88,000 by August.
Enrollment is forecasted to reach 100,000 students by August of 2030.
In addition to creating new locations, the bond would also add to existing campuses.
That includes:
- $25 million Architecture and Engineering school on the San Antonio College campus.
- $65 million Center for Automotive Technology at St. Philip’s College.
- $75 million School of Engineering at Northeast Lakeview College.
“We know for many of our students and many of our neighbors in the community, a credential, a college certification or degree is a difference between struggle and success,” Flores said. “And that’s what’s on the May 3rd ballot.”
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