Nearly 18 months after voters denied the system's last bond referendum, voters in Harris and Montgomery counties approved the Lone Star College System's $485 million bond authorization Nov. 4.
About 65 percent of voters supported the bond referendum, or about 161,000 of the 248,000 total votes. About 67 percent of voters in Harris County approved the bond, while 61 percent voted to approve it in Montgomery County.
"To me it is a reaffirmation that the community values education, [and] they value the community college," LSCS Chancellor Steve Head said. "It's a vote for economic prosperity, and it is a vote for progress in our community."
Voters turned down a $500 million bond referendum in May 2013. The $497.7 million bond package in May 2013 received 47 percent approval from residents, with 71 percent of voters in Montgomery County opposed to the 2013 bond package. Head said the college system had a different approach with this bond election.
"We focused on the facts—the facts are that the college is growing," Head said. "We're growing quicker than anyone else. We had the largest increase in the state this semester. We reached out to different groups that opposed the bond before and tried to meet their concerns."
The bond package includes $351.1 million in new construction, which provides $97.5 million for new technology centers, $55.1 million for health and science buildings, $54.4 million for academic buildings, $46.9 million for student services buildings and $44.9 million for satellite centers.
Nearly 34,000 credit students have been added to LSCS since 2007. Head said the system anticipates growing another 4–5 percent annually over the next several years, and the bond should help accommodate growth at LSCS for the next five to seven years. Should growth slow, he said, LSCS has the ability to hold off on constructing new projects.
"This helps us prepare for the future and meet future needs," Head said.
The 2014 bond package placed more of an emphasis on the growing need for skilled workers in the region, with plans to add new advanced technology centers at the CyFair, North Harris, Kingwood, Tomball and University Park campuses.
Improvements for Lone Star College facilities in the Cy-Fair area extend from the main campus on Barker Cypress Road to the Fairbanks and Cypress centers and also includes the new advanced technology center at a location still to be determined.
The bond objective of preparing LSCS for enrollment growth hits particularly close to home for Cy-Fair, the system's largest campus. Enrollment reached its highest point at the start of the fall 2014 semester at 20,384 students.
The bond will help fund a 75,000-square-foot instructional facility for more classrooms as well as 750 parking spaces.
