Updated 07/20/2010 07:30 AM
ACC plans for new campus in North Hays County
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A 96-acre tract of land near the Plum Creek Development in Kyle could one day be the home of Austin Community College's North Hays County Campus.
- Click here for a better understanding of ACC's annexation process, including its specific implications and benefits.
- Find out why the Hays County Steering Committee is encouraging voters to say yes to annexing the college.
According to Julie Jerome, spokesperson for Hays Consolidated Independent School District, students can take ACC courses now, but their options are limited.
"A student can be in senior English and take ACC at the same time and get dual credit," she said.
If voters approve annexation, the campus will be built, and that would mean an increase in classes offered for students and the community at a decrease in cost.
"Tuition is cut in about a third. That would be students who live in the Hays CISD boundaries and who would go to ACC. So, tuition alone is an undeniable benefit," Jerome said.
Vince Collier is part of the North Hays County Steering Committee. He said having a local campus would give the area options to cover the basics.
"The base line curriculum will always be there: math, English, reading, writing. [Those] all come with it," he said.
Collier believes an ACC campus will attract businesses to the area and provide employees for the area's rapidly growing economy.
"We've added 600,000 square feet of new medical space in the Kyle area alone in the last two years; Seton hospital is a big cornerstone for that. We want those jobs to be given to our people here," he said.
Approval would mean a tax increase for the Hays CISD area, but Collier said community response has been overwhelmingly positive.
"We need to get the vote out. We need folks to go to the polls, and we need folks to vote for the initiative," he said.