Lone Star College System trustees will hold their first formal budget deliberation since a state funding shortfall surfaced publicly, meeting Thursday, Aug. 6, at LSC-University Park in a session open to in-person and virtual public comment.

A budget workshop begins at 9 a.m., followed by the regular board meeting at 10:30 a.m., according to the official meeting notice. Both sessions take place in the Commons Grand Hall at 20515 SH 249, Houston.

The workshop comes one week after LSC Chancellor Mario Castillo told a Texas Senate committee that the system deliberately avoids funding permanent positions with money from House Bill 8, the state's outcomes-based community college funding model. "We don't spend HB 8 money on anything that we couldn't just cut essentially overnight," Castillo said at the Wednesday, July 29 hearing.

As we reported Wednesday, July 29, the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board prorated HB 8 payments after colleges surpassed state projections on student outcomes, contributing to a more than 15% drop in state funding for nearly a dozen colleges statewide. The gap between what colleges earned under HB 8 and what the state actually paid out reached nearly $90 million in the prior biennium. No LSC-specific shortfall figure has been released.

HB 8, passed in 2023, shifted community college funding from an enrollment-based model to one rewarding graduation rates, university transfers, and dual-credit enrollment. Dual-credit enrollment across Texas community colleges grew 20% between fiscal years 2023 and 2025, and credential completions rose about 22%, according to a Texas 2036 analysis cited in an AP report published July 29. That growth directly increased the amount of money schools are owed under the formula.

How to attend or comment

Residents can attend in person or join via Zoom (Meeting ID: 827 6128 0653; Passcode: 999845). Registration is required for Zoom attendance.

Anyone who wants to address the board during the budget workshop must submit a registration form at lonestar.edu/BoardCitizenRegistration by 8:55 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6. The deadline for the regular meeting is 10:25 a.m. Public comment can be delivered from the podium or via Zoom.

The full board agenda is expected to be posted at LoneStar.edu/Board by Monday, Aug. 3. For questions, contact LSCS Director of Media Relations Roycelyn Bastian at 832-813-6673.