Met with ACC, PfISD, and city leaders today on what an ACC partnership would look like from day one if annexation passes
This afternoon, Pflugerville leaders sat down with Austin Community College to start mapping out what a deeper local partnership could look like if voters approve ACC annexation in November.
I joined Mayor Weiss, PfISD Superintendent Dr. Quintin Shepherd, School Board President Chevonne Lorigo-Johst, ACC leadership, and others to talk through how PfISD, ACC, the City, PCDC, local employers, and other partners could work together around a shared goal: improving opportunity and prosperity in Pflugerville.
The goal of the meeting was to make sure we are aligned on the vision, the programs and facilities we already have to build from, and how we would start working together from day one if annexation is approved.
We discussed where our workforce has skill gaps, what we need to better attract new businesses and help existing employers grow here, which programs would help adults retrain or move into new careers, and how entrepreneurship support could fit into that work.
A big part of the conversation was PfISD’s new Career and Technical Education Center, scheduled to open next fall. The district is building a major new facility while also facing substantial budget constraints around staffing and expanding programs.
One idea we discussed is for ACC to invest directly in Pflugerville by locating faculty, equipment, and programs at the new CTE Center. That could allow the same facility to serve high school students during the day and adults and other learners at night and on weekends, while sharing equipment, labs, and instructional resources. For PfISD, that could mean expanding programs and capacity without bearing the full cost alone. ACC’s published service plan already calls for deeper collaboration at the CTE Center, including expanded dual credit, workforce credentials, and career-connected learning.
We also started working through which ACC programs are seeing growing demand in northeast Travis County, what makes sense to bring and expand here, what support PfISD needs, and where the City and PCDC can connect education and workforce programs directly to our economic development work.
That whole-of-city approach is the larger opportunity I see. We already have institutions, facilities, employers, and people doing pieces of this work. The goal is to get them working from the same plan around education, workforce development, business growth, and household prosperity.
This work is why I support Pflugerville joining the ACC district in November.