Voters countywide will decide Alamo Colleges' bond proposal next month

The tourism, hospitality and culinary arts program at St. Philip's College has a reputation that precedes it -- graduates go on to work for top restaurants in a city with a respected food scene.

But the program has never had its own building. It's crammed into 18,000 square feet of the community college's Campus Center, where busy students collide in kitchens too small for today's class sizes.

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Aging equipment has not been updated since the facility was constructed in 1988, in part because the electrical system can't support new appliances. During demonstration lessons, Chef Will Thornton and his students can't work simultaneously because the grid isn't powerful enough to handle all the activity at once. And no one can forget the old ceiling tiles that used to fall on the pastry kitchen after rainstorms.

"When high school kids come here for recruitment, frankly, they're underwhelmed," Thornton said. "Their high school labs had better equipment."

Under a $450 million Alamo Colleges bond proposal that voters across Bexar County will see on the May 6 ballot, St. Philip's would get a new, $30 million, 74,000-square-foot Culinary Arts Center of Excellence. It would have cooking, pastry and bread stations, more classroom space and upgraded equipment.

The bond debt would not result in a property tax increase, officials said.

The culinary facilities at St. Philip's are a focal point for those who support the bond, but also for their opponents, who say the community college district should find a way to fund the upgrades without the larger bond package.

St. Philip's and San Antonio College, the oldest campuses in the Alamo Colleges district, would get the most out of the bond, more than $80 million each. Some old facilities would be renovated, including the Norris Technical Building at St. Philip's, the natatorium and gym at Palo Alto College and the McAllister Fine Arts Center at San Antonio College. Palo Alto's allocation would include a $30 million manufacturing building supporting an early college high school in a partnership with the Southwest Independent School District, H-E-B and other area employers.

The bond issue also would fund $23 million for each of two new campuses on the South and Northwest sides that would not be fully accredited colleges but would provide occupational training, remedial education and college counseling. An equal amount would go to renovate the Westside Education and Training Center.

Northwest Vista College and Northeast Lakeview College, newer colleges in the fastest-growing parts of Bexar County, would get new science and technology buildings.

Alamo Colleges trustees and administrators have pointed to the fast growth of Bexar County as a reason for the bond, predicting tens of thousands of new students by 2030, but some professors and community members take issue with that forecast. Almost 50,000 students take courses for academic credit from the community colleges, a number that jumped to about 60,000 two years ago when students in occupational programs were included.

Alamo Colleges last week provided fall semester enrollment figures from 2010 to 2015 that show a districtwide increase of more than 1,500 students in academic programs, offset by a decrease of more than 3,000 students in technical programs. Officials did not provide last fall's enrollment figures.

Supporters also tout the Centers of Excellence that the bond would fund at each campus. Many would host programs that are in high demand locally, such as the law enforcement and first responders academy at San Antonio College and health care technology at Palo Alto. The bond would also be used to improve technology across the district, including classrooms and labs.

The package contains $11 million to buy land adjacent to Palo Alto and for a future education and training center on U.S. 281 on the far North Side.

The San Antonio Chamber of Commerce board voted unanimously in February to support the bond.

"As a community, we need to support the continued growth and expansion of our community colleges, especially given the role they play in training so many members of our future workforce," its president and CEO, Richard Perez, said in a prepared statement. "The chamber is proud to support this important bond initiative for the colleges, and we encourage voters to vote yes on May 6."

No organized opposition has coalesced, but some community members have spoken against the bond at recent district board meetings. Many point to accreditation warnings at three of the five colleges, an issue that led one trustee, James Rindfuss, to vote against sending the bond proposal to voters.

The agency that accredits the community colleges issued the warnings in December to San Antonio College, St. Philip's and Northwest Vista, saying they were not representing themselves as autonomous institutions and that trustees had overstepped their bounds in setting some curriculum and governance policies. In response, trustees have recently modified policies, including one that had required the districtwide teaching of "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People."

Before trustees voted for the bond in January, Ricardo A. Martinez, chairman of United Public Works of Texas, spoke about widespread community criticism of Chancellor Bruce Leslie and the accreditation warnings. Martinez hoisted a large photo of Leslie at last year's Palo Alto commencement ceremony, slumped in his seat with legs outstretched, using his cellphone -- an inattention to the graduates that had caused a public outcry. He later apologized.

"I will not support a bond issue, and neither will any of my friends support a bond issue, until he resigns," Martinez said. "There's a cloud over this whole board and the chancellor."

Alamo Colleges last passed a bond issue 12 years ago.

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