Contact: Ann Hatch
214-378-1819; ahatch@dcccd.edu
For immediate release — Feb. 6, 2019
(DALLAS) — Members of the Dallas County Community College District’s board of trustees approved a $1.1 billion bond program recommended by Dr. Joe May, DCCCD’s chancellor, during the board’s regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 5. The bond proposal will be placed on the May 4, 2019, election ballot in Dallas County.
“The Dallas County Community College District is totally committed to the success of our students and the communities we serve. DCCCD started a journey five years ago that involved identifying what the community needs are and any gaps that existed which we needed to fill,” said May, following the Tuesday board meeting. “The bond program that our trustees approved today represents far-reaching efforts to meet those needs.”
Diana Flores, chair of the DCCCD board of trustees, said, "The bond election our board approved, which will go to voters in May, reflects the strategic priorities we have set for this district. Those priorities and other initiatives all are part of DCCCD's integrated higher education network, which has been created to build student success, help solve income disparities in our communities and provide an educated workforce, too."
Flores added, “Passing the new DCCCD bond program will not increase property taxes under current conditions.”
DCCCD’s last bond program was approved by Dallas County voters 15 years ago in 2004 for $450 million. The 2019 bond program proposal is only the third in the district’s 53-year history. The general obligation bonds will be sold over a period of six years to fund new facilities, resources, talent and technology to support student success, the community, businesses, and workforce and economic development.
DCCCD identified a number of potential initiatives that could be funded by using general obligation proceeds:
- To build the new Dallas Education and Innovation Hub downtown which will serve the entire county. The hub would include a Business Training Center and a redesigned El Centro College campus, which will benefit workforce and economic development and also would provide new learning opportunities for students.
- To support DCCCD facilities across Dallas County in order to meet a projected increase in enrollment of approximately 12,000 students by 2030 who are enrolling through programs like Dallas County Promise, dual credit, early college high schools and other efforts that will enable DCCCD to meet 60X30TX goals.
- To build collaborative student learning space.
- To provide equipment, talent and resources for industry-aligned education and training programs that meet the workforce needs of the North Texas region — specifically in the fields of allied health, culinary arts, construction trades, technology, business development, advanced manufacturing, corporate training and early childhood education.
DCCCD has identified general needs for which the general obligation bonds could be issued: $235 million for industry-aligned workforce projects and programs; $332 million for student-related instruction and success programs; and $535 million for the Dallas Education and Innovation Hub.
“DCCCD serves as the North Texas region’s primary provider for the area’s talent supply chain,” said May. “These general obligation bonds represent an investment in the region’s workforce and economic development, which sustain the state, as well as our students and the communities we serve.”
He added, “We also work diligently to meet the goals of 60X30TX to educate our students. Those goals for colleges and universities, established by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, are to award a total of 3.4 million certificates or degrees by 2030 and to have targeted goals for Hispanic, African-American, male and economically disadvantaged college completers. This bond initiative will support DCCCD’s 60X30TX goals.”
Meeting the needs of students means helping them navigate the education pipeline, according to the chancellor, because many DCCCD students are the first members of their families to attend college. Streamlining how they navigate that system — from K-12 to a DCCCD college to either a university or a job in the Dallas workforce — is critical to their success. The bond program will help provide the additional personnel, facilities, technology and resources needed to ensure they earn a college credential.
“DCCCD programs like Dallas County Promise, Rising Star, early college high schools and dual credit also help our students overcome income disparity,” explained May. “All areas of the proposed bond program are key components of DCCCD’s integrated higher education network. That network — which comprises DCCCD, K-12, higher education partners, business and industry partners, community service agencies and other organizations — all work together to support student success which, in turn, supports families, communities and businesses.”
For details about DCCCD’s proposed bond program, visit dcccd.edu/bond.
# # #