TISD Commits $25,000 to CART
The Taylor Center for Advanced Research and Technology got a little closer to reality Monday.

The Taylor ISD Board of Trustees voted unanimously to commit $25,000 to the project by Oct. 1 and to support an effort to raise money and explore curriculum and goals for the center for at least one year.

The CART is an initiative launched by TISD Superintendent Bruce Scott to provide a middle college environment for Eastern Williamson County students. The goal is to offer juniors and seniors a chance to attend classes that will give them vocational and technical skills, graduating with technical certifications and up to 60 hours of college credit.

The Taylor Economic Development Corporation already committed $25,000 to the CART.

Chuck McCarter, who was recently named director of the exploratory phase of the CART project, said the Hutto ISD and Hutto Economic Development Corporation have given verbal support to the initiative. He said he thinks that verbal support will turn into an additional pair of $25,000 commitments before the end of the month.

That would give the project $100,000 in seed money to support McCarter's efforts to find grant sources, solicit business contributions and determine how viable the center would be.

He had proposed the board commit $50,000 over two years but school board members opted to pursue the project for one year before deciding whether to continue.

McCarter referred to the commitment as an investment, one which he thinks could pay big dividends.

McCarter currently is the executive director of the Texas Bioscience Institute in Temple, which started out much like the CART project two years ago. This fall, he said, 100 students from the Temple area will start taking about 400 classes in a building donated by Temple College. Other partners in the project include Scott & White Hospital and the Veterans Administration hospital in Temple.

The center is funded in part by a $900,000 grant from the Department of Labor, as well as contributions from business and industry.

He said the initial $200,000 invested in the Texas Bioscience Institute has been leveraged into $4 million through grants and donations.

He said he thinks the same approach could be successful here, although the curriculum will likely be different.

The project is far from certain, though. If any of the initial four partners backs out, the development process will stop, McCarter said.

In addition to approaching Hutto, Scott and McCarter have approached school districts in Granger, Thrall, Thorndale and Bartlett about participating in the project. Each district also would be able to send students to the center.

School board President Jesse Ancira Jr. asked what the impact of the center would be on Taylor High School if as many as 200 students attended CART? Scott said it could change the employment levels at THS, but he said that might not be a bad thing.

The district is growing and trying to decide how to expand facilities to accommodate more students. The CART could eliminate some of that pressure at the high school level, allowing the district to shift that expense.

McCarter said one benefit of a middle college is that it produces fewer dropouts. Students are more engaged and less likely to quit school.

He said the CART also is likely to produce more college-bound students and improve student attendance.

The state compensates local schools based on the number of students who attend classes.

Board member Johnny Sanford said he thinks the CART is a great idea but he is hesitant to use taxpayer money to fund a speculative project.

Board member Shorty Mitchell said he thinks the CART is worth support because it targets a group of students that is undeserved. He said the top students will have prospects regardless of what the district does, and the bottom students don't care about education. A project that tries to help those students in the middle succeed is needed, he said.

“I think it's a great idea,” Mitchell said. “Change always makes people nervous but we've got to start someplace.”