ACC meets public about possibility of coming to Lockhart
By Kyle Mooty
LPR Editor
Austin Community College’s public hearing last week in Lockhart regarding the possibility of having a campus in the city gave officials a chance to promote its institution as well as an opportunity for some locals to express their gratitude and concerns.
While one man chastised the ACC Board for what he deemed a lack of accountability for those in ACC’s free tuition pilot program, another asked what adding ACC to the city would cost taxpayers, while a third questioned its costs for small-business owners.
If ACC’s board votes Aug. 5 in favor of placing the annexing of LISD on the Nov. 5 ballot at the General Election, and should that measure pass, residents within LISD would begin paying property taxes to ACC.
Chris Cervini, Vice Chancellor for Community and Public Affairs at ACC, noted almost two-thirds of Caldwell County is within LISD.
The June 26 ACC public hearing was held at the Gerry Ohlendorf Performing Arts Center at Lockhart High School.
Among those on hand were Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart, the ACC Board of Directors, including Chair Dr. Barbara Mink, Cervini, and Neal Vickers, Executive Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration.
The annexation possibility came about following more than 1,000 signatures being gathered and approved by the ACC Board in May.
“This is the definition of a grassroots effort,” Cervini said. “The community came together, a group of civic leaders, business leaders, average citizens, and petitioned the college to put an annexation item on the ballot.”
Lowery-Hart began the presentation to the audience.
“It has been said that a community college is often the backbone of a community,” Lowery-Hart said. “While I appreciate the sentiment, I don’t think that’s actually true. I think what is true is that we are the tendons and connective tissue of our community. We’re connecting people that want to learn skills that want to advance in their career and want to transfer to an institution that want to improve their lives to people that will hire them, that will promote them, and grow with them.
“ACC has had a really important role in Central Texas in being that connective tissue. In our 51 years of serving Central Texas, we’ve been a workforce leader, and academic transfer leader.”
ACC, Lowery-Hart explained, ranges from basic education, GED, and college-readiness. He said ACC engages in workforce credentials, helping students acquire a skill or degree that leads to a family-sustaining wage.
Cervini said the ACC board had passed a free tuition pilot program for some high school graduates in April, waving tuition and fees for in-district students.
“It’s a 5-year pilot program,” Cervini said. “We think it’s going to be a game-changer in terms of opening doors for students who would not have access otherwise.”
However, during the public comment portion, a county resident spoke against the free tuition pilot program.
“I feel as though ACC has made a colossal mistake and blunder with their newly announced free tuition for 5-year test plan,” the resident said. “There’s a long history of what happens when something becomes free, especially in government and bureaucratic entities. It loses all value and becomes a meaningless and abused value item as participants no longer have any skin in the game. One only needs to look at the waste and the free and reduced lunch and breakfast programs, Section 8 housing, free cell phones, free internet, free legal representation. You get what you pay for.
“This plan will now have the same diluting effect on secondary education and primary education where anyone without merit or good intent will now be able to go hang out in college after graduating high school for free while potentially disrupting other staff and students who are there trying to get an education. This will dimmish the value of a degree since there is no incentive to excel. It’s just like everyone gets a trophy.”
The resident went on to say that people need to think if Caldwell County should be more like Austin and Travis County before passing the measure.
“As always, vote accordingly and you’ll get what you deserve,” he said.
Chancellor Lowery-Hart said ACC helps students graduate and transfer to 4-year institutions, also helping students with a degree acquire new skills so they can advance in their career.
ACC has 11 campuses and is one of the largest not only in Texas, but also the country.
“We are a Hispanic serving institution,” Lowery-Hart said. “We offer more that 100 degrees of study. That includes four bachelor’s degrees in critical workforce programs. We have robust partnerships with ISD’s, including Lockhart.”
It was noted that ACC’s districts in Texas are geographically about the side of Connescticut.
ACC offers dual credit, Early College High School, and other programs.
“We want students to enroll full time,” Lowery-Hart said. “That means keeping college affordable.”
ACC also helps students meet basic needs if it means them getting to class, whether it is childcare or fixing a vehicle.
“The Caldwell County and Lockhart community is growing very rapidly, and it’s attracting a lot of exciting employers,” Cervini said. “But with that, they need to have the skills training in place to develop the workers, to be able to take on those jobs … and to enjoy that prosperity of that economic development. So, if you’re somebody in Caldwell County, this is a pretty important conversation that you need to be having.”
The current cost for Lockhart students outside of the district is $286 per credit hour, but the in-district price is $85. To put that in perspective, in-district students pay $5,100 for a two-year degree, but the same degree out-of-district costs more than $17,000.
“We are significantly cheaper than Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas State, and others community colleges,” said Neal Vickers, Executive Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration.
Cervini said having a local community college would greatly benefit Lockhart and Caldwell County, specifically those within the LISD.
“I absolutely think communities could benefit from expanded pipelines and access to higher education,” Cervini said. “And that’s not just the higher education that you get in the classroom. As a community college, it means the workforce training, the welding courses, the skilled trades, the construction, education, nursing – all of those pieces. Those hands-on credentials will help people get on a trajectory to more prosperity.”
“We want to have the ability for our programs to work with businesses they are hiring for,” Cervini said. “One of the examples we have is Tesla. We work with Tesla to develop a manufacturing program. It’s a curriculum that they now use globally. We train Tesla factory workers at ACC and have a pipeline to that factory.
“We are very intentional about working very closely with our employer partners so that we are building the skills that those employers value.”
The current ACC tax rate is at about nine cents per $100 of the value of a house. There are also some tax exemptions people may qualify for, such as homestead, senior, and disabled. Cervini said the current tax rate for ACC means a tax levy of about $226 annually, or about $19 per month. That average is less for seniors. There are no exemptions for commercial owners.
Lockhart business owner Taylor Burge said she wanted more discussion and presentations on what ACC will mean to business owners.
“How much is this gonna cost me as a business owner?” Burge asked. “This is a nerve-racking time for Lockhart and Caldwell County as a whole. We’ve got school bonds that are coming up that we are paying already.”
Cervini said ACC had one of the lowest tax rates in the state for community colleges.
However, Cervini said a facility development strategy of about 20,000 square feet would need to be considered.
Also noted was ACC’s close relationship with Texas State University, a program called “Bats to Cats.” The program can include up to a $2,000 scholarship and tickets to TSU athletic events.
Lockhart resident David Bryant said he was “Very grateful for the grassroots organizer to get the signatures needed so that we can have this conversation. I speak as a father. I’m interested in the career technology aspect of things.”
