HCC meeting highlights benefits to North Forest of affiliation

HCC-NE president Margaret Ford Fisher gestures a response to audience questions at last Thursday’s breakfast at North Forest ISD. Also presenting


Hundreds of North Forest residents and parents attended an Economic Impact Breakfast hosted by Houston Community College last Thursday morning at the old Forest Brook High School.

The college district’s Chancellor, Dr. Mary Spangler, was addressing the subject of benefits to the North Forest community if they voted to join the HCC taxing district in an election next November.

Also speaking on the subject were HCC-NE president Margaret Ford Fisher, and HCC board members Bruce Austin and Yolanda Flores. Welcomes were issued to the group by NFISD Superintendent Dr. Adrain Johnson.

Dr. Spangler’s message was basically that HCC’s presence in the community would have a positive impact on the local economy, society and educational opportunities. She noted that today, 80% of jobs require some post high school education and training, and that community colleges are providing this education for almost 50% of all students attending college nationally.

Said Spangler, HCC is “not only educating people, but we are helping them get better jobs and higher salaries.”

She spoke about the accomplishments of the HCC system, noting that they are number one in the state in preparing students to go to the college of their choice. HCC has four locations in the Northeast area, including the Northeast Campus, the Northline Campus, the Automotive Technology Training Center, and the Pinemont Center.

Spangler noted that HCC currently partners with NFISD to provide Dual Credit classes at the high school. However, when high school students elect to go to HCC, they must pay the “out of district” credit hour fee of $104. If North Forest were to vote to join the HCC taxing district, this credit hour fee would be only one-half, or $57. Therefore, a full-time student can earn their 2-year associate degree for only $3200, much less than at any other institution, she said.

The tax rate for HCC is only .092 per $100 valuation, with exemptions for senior citizens up to $90,000 value. This makes it a real value to the community, she noted.

Dr. Spangler said that HCC offered North Forest expanded educational opportunities, as follows:

– Partner to develop a Vo-Tech Training Institute

– Learning resources for students to prepare for 21st century workforce

– Reduced In-District Tuition

– Free Tuition for Dual Credit Students

– Increased college readiness

– Training in high demand fields: medical, science, technology, engineering, math, fine arts

– Expanded GED and Literacy classes

Many of these same points were made in a letter written by community businessman Elvin Franklin, and published in the North Forest News and the Northeast News this week. Franklin wrote in favor of the District voting to join with HCC in affiliation. He mentioned that HCC affiliation would improve graduation rates and lower drop-out rates, and help small businesses with specialized training and partnerships with HCC and students.

Others who spoke at the breakfast included City Councilman Jarvis Johnson, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee. She spoke on the benefits of North Forest joining with HCC, and also the availability of federal Stimulus monies for local projects. She specifically mentioned that the Department of Education and the Department of Labor had monies available for educational and job training opportunities that the community needed to apply for and take advantage of.

The speakers urged the community to come out Saturday, April 25 to North Forest (Smiley) High School to help paint and “lift” the gym in a joint recovery effort with businesses.

In closing, Dr. Spangler said that HCC would impact the North Forest area’s economy, increase students’ lifetime income, reduce the demand for social services, and generate government revenue. She said that HCC offers high quality, affordable education for:

– Academic Advancement
– Career and technical training
– Online Classes
– Lifelong Learning