Does Blinn’s Future Include Fayette Co.?
Blinn opened its Schulenburg Campus in 1997 on the campus of the former Bishop Forest High School, but after 24 years, it’s longterm future isn’t certain.
This Tuesday the Blinn College Board of Trustees will hold their regular monthly meeting and could take action on approving the school’s district wide facilities master plan.
That master plan was first presented to board members last month, and includes options for the Blinn Schulenburg Campus that are all over the map – run ning the spectrum from evolving the focus of the Schulenburg campus to its closure.
Blinn College currently has five campuses, but the vast majority of students and services are concentrated on the Bryan and Brenham campuses, and not surprisingly much of the focus of this new masterplan is on those campuses.
But according to the information presented to Blinn board members last month, at the Schulenburg campus:
• “Enrollment is projected to decline by approximately onethird to 106 students, over the next 20 years.”
• Overall utilization of instructional space is well below the target state metrics for both hours per week utilization and classroom fill.
Similar stats were presented for the Blinn Sealy campus.
As part of the April presentation to the board “no new projects” are proposed for the Schulenburg campus, and under “considerations” in the presentation it stated:
• No new growth and declining enrollment projected in the next 10 years.
• Current classroom and lab utilization is well below THECB targets
• Recently reduced tax support
• Blinn owns the property
• Sale of property could help offset land acquisition costs for a new campus elsewhere in the service area.
It is that final item that takes on heightened importance later in the master plan when a possible new Blinn Campus built in the Waller area is proposed.
The report suggest three Schulenburg Campus future scenarios:
1. Status Quo: “Maintain a presence in Schulenburg; continue present operations and course offerings. Stay in current location owned by Blinn
2. Evolve: Maintain a presence in Schulenburg; Assess and update course offerings appropriate to the community, local industry and area ISDs.
3. No campus: “Blinn closes its physical campus in Schulenburg. As with everywhere, virtual courses remain available to those wishing to attend on-line.”
The Blinn board of trustees meeting will occur May 18 at 5:30 p.m. in Rooms 2 and 3 of the Blinn College District Student Center located at 651 Blinn Boulevard, Brenham. Any member of the public who wishes to attend the meeting, or make public comment at the meeting, will need to do so in Rooms 2 and 3 via remote connection from those students center rooms. A live-stream of this meeting will be available at http://youtube.com/Blinn1883.