This story has been updated.
Local business and workforce development leaders are asking Bexar County voters to pass Proposition A, a $987 million bond proposal from Alamo Colleges District meant for program expansion and development.
The measure will appear toward the end of the ballot, after 27 mayoral hopefuls, a number of city council candidates, school board races and additional bond proposals for school districts.
To learn more about education measures on the May 3 ballot, check out our 2025 Voter Guide.
Alamo Colleges District (ACD) is a collective of five community colleges and seven educational training centers serving 79,000 students across the Bexar County region offering various career/technical education programs and two-year degrees.
“Alamo Colleges is the foundation of higher education in San Antonio,” Clint Kingsbery, the chair of ACD’s board of trustees, said.
If voters approve the nearly $1 billion bond proposal, the district can move forward with expansions of infrastructure and educational programming in engineering, health care, IT and cybersecurity, emerging technologies, applied technology and construction trades, automotive technology and transportation.
ACD would also move into four new locations: Brooks City Base, Port San Antonio, the South Texas Medical Center and a new North Central location.
At an event in Port San Antonio on Monday, “I Support Alamo Colleges” — a political action committee working to get Prop A passed — hosted a number of speakers from business groups such as Metro SA Chamber, the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and a priest from Mission San Jose Catholic Church speaking on behalf of Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) Metro.
Their message was all the same: “I support the proposed Alamo Colleges District bond.”
What the $987 million bond would do
The bond needs a simple majority vote to pass. If Bexar County voters approve Prop A, this is how the $987 million would be spent:
- Northeast Lakeview College is set to receive $95 million toward a science, engineering and technology building and an expansion of the school’s career and technical program.
- San Antonio College is set to receive $120 million from the bond proposal toward an architecture, drafting and engineering program and to establish a School of Nursing and Health Professions in the city’s Medical Center.
- Northwest Vista College is set to receive $130 million to expand its current campus and build a School of Emerging Technologies at Port San Antonio.
- St. Philip’s College on the city’s East Side is set to receive $115 million toward a Center of Automotive Technology on its campus and a new Center of Construction Technology at an undetermined location.
- Located on the South Side of San Antonio, Palo Alto College would receive $95 million toward establishing an automotive and heavy machinery program and a Center of Applied Technology at Brooks.
- Another $40 million would go toward building an “Innovation Center” at Port SA and a transportation training center at an undetermined location; another $145 million would go toward expanding ACD’s Northwest Education Training Center and building a new North Central Education Center.
- ACD would invest $247 million in districtwide infrastructure projects, such as improving their headquarters building, a new community and conference center, IT and cybersecurity, land acquisition and project management fees.
Enrollment for the district is projected to grow, moving from 79,000 to 100,000 by 2030.
Adrianna Swindle, an ACD alumnus and the principal architect at Perkins and Will San Antonio Studio, spoke about the district’s efforts to make higher education more accessible and stressed the need for thoughtful architectural design.
“I was a first gen student, and I didn’t have a precedent for what it was like to be in college,” Swindle said. “Breaking down some of the barriers of intimidation and environments like these can actually help our city grow significantly.”
Swindle graduated from San Antonio College in 2003 with an associate degree in architecture and later attended the University of Texas at San Antonio.
In 2017, Swindle was on the architectural team building the Southside Education and Training Center, an ACD campus next to Southside High School that offers workforce development programs, continued education and acts as one of the hubs for SA Ready to Work.
Swindle views the construction of the Southside ETC as more than an education project — it’s a “changer” in the community it serves, she said.
But it’s not just the existence of higher education and workforce programs that community members need. Attention to detail and quality design of education infrastructure is important, Swindle said.
Swindle stressed the need for community college buildings to embrace designs that allow students from diverse backgrounds to come together, carving out spaces for students who need moments of peace and boosting indoor-outdoor connectivity and wellness.
“Students within the community college environments deserve to feel valued,” Swindle told the Report. “Entry sequences, circulation and approach are all important and paying careful attention to how the architecture engages the user.”
No burden on the taxpayers
ACD Chancellor Mike Flores said the bond proposal would not result in a property tax increase, because Bexar County’s population is expected to grow, which means more homeowners and more taxpayers.
“Since there are more homes being purchased and businesses created, that means the universe of properties is expanding, which means there’s more tax income available,” Flores told the Report. “So the rate would stay the same for everyone, but there’s just more money available.”
Home to almost two million people, the county is expected to grow by another 1.1 million residents by 2040, a level of growth expected to generate 500,000 jobs and require significant infrastructure.
The May 3 measure is nearly twice the size of a $450 million bond voters passed for Alamo Colleges District in 2017, which received 66.8% voter approval and also did not incur a property tax increase.
Currently, the tax rate imposed on homeowners by ACD was set in 2005 and is slightly less than 15 cents for every $5,000 of taxable value. An average homeowner with a homestead of about $270,000 would pay roughly $400 annually in taxes toward the district.
Overwhelming support from business leaders
Business leaders are rallying behind the bond because of its potential to support and expand a workforce that meets the demands of Bexar County’s expected growth and development.
For business leaders in San Antonio who support the bond, ACD serves as a talent and workforce pipeline needed to maintain growth.
“Our region is growing rapidly, yet at the same time, we remain one of the largest poor cities in the nation. We must educate our population and move the needle on poverty through investing in our people, education and living wages,” Fr. Dennis Schafer, who spoke on behalf of COPS Metro, said at the Port SA event.
Focused on workforce development, COPS Metro pushed for the construction of Palo Alto College on the South Side, was involved in developing the nursing program at St. Philip’s College along with supporting other workforce programs such as Project Quest and SA Ready to Work.
Katie Ferrier, who serves as the vice president of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, echoed Schafer’s words.
“Dramatic growth brings opportunity and responsibility. The backbone of any strong economy is an educated, skilled workforce,” Ferrier said.
“We’re growing in droves…the secret’s out about San Antonio,” Brett Finley, the CEO of Metro SA Chamber, added.
Though some may be skeptical of a $1 billion bond, there hasn’t been much organized opposition and it hasn’t been a major talking point on the campaign trail.
When the city of San Antonio passed its 2022 bond, conservative elected officials and the Republican Party of Bexar County deemed it fiscally irresponsible and campaigned against it.
But at a Monday candidate forum hosted by some of the city’s most conservative Northside neighborhood leaders, the Alamo Colleges bond was mentioned by just one speaker, Cesario Garcia, who is running in City Council District 8.
“Vote no on Proposition A,” Garcia said, in reference to the bond.
On Thursday, Bexar GOP Chairwoman Kris Coons said that the Bexar GOP formally opposes the proposed Alamo Colleges District bond.
“While the initial proposal appears favorable, the combined $1 billion bond with the City and county $18 billion in debt, coupled with the additional $5 billion allocated for Project Marvel, would result in one of the highest debt-to-per capita ratios in the nation. The GOP fully supports education, programs, and growth, but in good conscience, it cannot support another $1 billion bond,” she said.
Early voting runs April 22 through April 29. Use this tool to see which races will appear on your ballot for the May 3 election.
Reporter Andrea Drusch contributed to this story.
