TC lands grant to help adult students: College will use funds to assist people who are the first in their families to seek higher education

Texarkana College is seen in December 2015 at 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.
Texarkana College is seen in December 2015 at 2500 N. Robison Road in Texarkana, Texas.

On Monday, Texarkana College announced the receipt of a $1.18 million TRIO grant from the U.S. Department of Education Educational Opportunity Center to work with economically challenged adults who are first-generation college students. Payable over the next five years, the grant will help more than 1,000 students to learn about the college process, applying for financial aid and economic literacy.
"With this grant we can focus on anyone that's a senior or older, so we'll be going out into the community and outreach there," Dr. Donna McDaniel, TC's vice president of instruction, said during the October board meeting. "We may even work with students that just need to push their GED, but the whole goal is to give them the opportunity to go to college, and hopefully they'll choose to go to Texarkana College."
Dr. Tonja Mackey, the executive director of TRIO and Library Services, wrote the EOC grant and said she felt like this was a game changer for students in Bowie County-and Cass County, as well, if voters there choose to be annexed into TC's taxing district on Nov. 8.
"I'm excited to bring this new grant to TC," Mackey said.
In August, TC also received a renewal of the $1.5 million TRIO Talent Search to provide college preparation for lower-income junior high and high school students who face disadvantages.
In other business, trustees also appointed Roger Hailey as the ex-officio trustee for Cass County, should the annexation be approved.
The board is seeking to annex their service portion of the county to include five independent school districts: Atlanta, Bloomburg, Linden-Kildare, McLeod and Queen City. Should the proposal pass, dual-credit course offerings for high school students at these schools would expand and costs would be lowered. Tuition costs would also be lowered by $795 per semester to the in-district rate of $1,130 per 15 semester hours. The proposed tax increase is $.110718 per $100 assessed property valuation, and would go into effect in January 2017. Taxpayers who are disabled or 65-and-older would receive a $5,000 exemption, and once assessed, the tax rate would be frozen.
Hailey, who retired after 46 years in public education, is the former superintendent at Atlanta Independent School District and Liberty-Eylau ISD. He said he was honored to be chosen for the position and he supports education in Cass County.
"I've been in education all my life. There's never enough education for me," Hailey said. "I look at it as planting seeds. It's what we do and you always have to give before you get. That's the way I look at education, the way I look at this opportunity."
He said a farmer plants seeds and has to make an investment before he gets a return.
"Education is kind of the same way," he added. "I'm hoping the voters of Cass County see it as an opportunity to invest in the future and that the benefits will come. And like everything else it won't come immediately, but in the long term the benefits will flow to Cass County."
TC President James Henry Russell also went over blueprints for the proposed site at TC Cass County. Designed by architect David Lamb, the plans show where the cosmetology, licensed vocational nursing, truck driving, welding and multi-craft and industrial maintenance programs would be conducted, in addition to classroom space for dual-credit students from area high schools.
He stated that TC has a contract on the building, pending the outcome of the annexation election. That contract includes the school paying $450,000 for the building if the annexation goes through. Russell said TC has paid $5,000 in earnest money so far and if the annexation is not successful, they would get all but $1,000 back.
Russell addressed rumors that the building had been donated to the school, and that funds from the election would be used in Bowie County at TC's main campus.
"None of the new tax dollars will go to Bowie County," Russell said.
He outlined the estimated budget for the facility and programs that shows an initial investment of $4 million, which he said TC would borrow for 15 years, and the projected yearly tax revenue of $1.3 million.
The budget also shows the initial purchase of the building for $450,000, building and parking lot renovations of $2.7 million, program costs of $768,009, and furniture and equipment costs of $175,260.
These projections also show an initial deficit of just over $150,000 in startup costs.
Russell added that the TC Foundation awards 32 Presidential Scholarships to students in Cass County each year for a total of $320,000. He said that those funds do not come from taxes, but are donated dollars.
"We also invest $65,800 annually in facilities and personnel at TC on Main," Russell said, stating that the facility would remain open no matter the election outcome.
Trustees also approved seeking a Defense Economic Adjustment Assistance Grant of $316,231.05 for Caterpillar training diagnostic engines and a hydraulic ironworker machine for the TC-at-TexAmericas Center training facility. Scotty Hayes, associate dean of continuing education said this training equipment will help support their mission to provide quality workforce training to workers at the Red River Army Depot and strengthen the military value of the facility.
The next meeting will be held Dec. 12.

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