OLLA MOKHTAR
campus editor
olla.mokhtar@my.tccd.edu
Due to an increase in demand, the board is granting an additional $185,000 to support childcare services.
In the March 21 board meeting, trustees approved the action item to increase funding to TCCD’s Child Care Assistance Program for Career and Technical Education. This program allows eligible student parents access to certified, high-quality childcare facilities with funding from the Perkins Basic Grant. The federal grant allocated $1,961,468 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
In the Fall of 2022, Learning Care Group Inc., a provider of early education and care, entered into a contract with TCC that allocated $65,000 as an amount that can not be exceeded. While the amount was below the threshold of needing board approval at the time, the amendment to the contract will exceed that with a new total of 250,000. This requires board approval.
An increase in demand for the Spring semester led this effort to supply 30 more student parents for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
“Any funds that we are not able to spend, we have to send back to the coordinating board. That’s why we do amendments throughout as needed,” said Issac Rivera, district director of curriculum and educational planning.
Not long after district 2 trustee Shannon Wood became a young mother she became a single mother too. She said she wished this would’ve been around when she needed it and is glad that she can offer it to others.
“I want to bless others like I was blessed,” Wood said.
Each year, prior to the college’s registration for the fiscal year, incidental fees are reviewed, said Pamela D. Anglin, Chief Financial Officer. This includes non instructional costs and fees like the third party vendor costs including one from the American Red Cross. Each department in the district reviews their respective fees and alerts the college for any increase in cost.
They found that the Certificate for First Aid and CPR/AED, usually $36, did not adequately cover the institutional cost the college pays the American Red Cross. It is now $38 for the 2024-2025 academic year.
In other news, TCC surveyed other peer community colleges for their costs in replacing diplomas. They were less than TCC’s, so Anglin also requested a decrease from $30 to $20 to be similar.
Additionally, the Texas Association of School Boards, to which TCC is a subscriber of, drafts policy for every independent school district as well as most community colleges in Texas which is separated into two parts: the local and legal.
While the law prohibits the board of trustees from changing anything appointed as a legal policy restatement of states and federal statutes, case law, and regulations that apply to community colleges, the board can customize, to a certain extent, the local policies as long as it complies with the law.
TASB’s Update 46 reflects laws passed by the 88th Texas Legislature as it pertains to SB 17 and HB 8 on prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
The board passed the local policies for prohibiting DEI in administrative organizations, vendor relations, equal employment opportunity, equal education opportunity in accordance with the law.
