TVCC Plans to Offer Forney ISD Students Free Associates Degree if Voters Approve Annexation

Press Release / News Posting from Forney ISD

Trinity Valley Community College (TVCC) will hold a public hearing regarding the annexation of Forney into the TVCC tax district on Monday, Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. in the Board Room of the Forney Independent School District located at 600 S. Bois D’Arc in Forney. The hearing is the final step before the TVCC places the annexation of Forney into the TVCC tax district on the May ballot.

In October of 2008, the Forney Education Leadership Foundation submitted a petition to the TVCC regarding the annexation of Forney into the TVCC tax district. The board of the Forney Education Leadership Foundation acquired a total of 750 signatures, more than the required five percent of the registered voters that cast a ballot in 2006, to begin the process of bringing Forney into the TVCC tax district. A total of 13,156 registered voters cast their vote in 2006, meaning that the board had to acquire at least 658 confirmed registered voter signatures to be able to have the annexation possibly placed on the May ballot.

Trinity Valley Community College and the Forney Education Leadership Foundation signed a Memorandum of Understanding in September of 2008 outlining the intentions between the college, the education leadership foundation and the Forney Independent School District (FISD) upon successful annexation of Forney into the TVCC tax district. The memorandum defined the responsibilities of all parties involved.

Earlier this year, the TVCC published a service plan regarding the annexation of Forney ISD into the community college’s tax district. If the annexation is approved by voters, Trinity Valley Community College will provide up to 64 college hours at no cost to a Forney ISD student if the student completes 24 hours of the total college credit hours in dual-credit classes while in high school and maintains a 2.5 grade point average while attending classes at TVCC. Forney ISD offers free dual-credit classes for high school students so they can complete the 24 college credit hours while still in high school. In addition, if the annexation passes, the TVCC intends to construct a facility in Forney within three to five years.

If voters approve the annexation of Forney ISD into the Trinity Valley Community College Tax District, the first graduating class that will be eligible to take advantage of the TVCC scholarship will be in 2010.