Trustee says Fresno student bus pass program will be saved ‘come hell or high water’

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An elected official with the State Center Community College District this week assured student leaders the district would find a way to save a three-year-old program that has helped thousands of Fresno-area college students get to class.

The promise comes amid a controversy set off when district administrators eliminated funding for a program that has provided free bus passes to Fresno-area community college students since 2017.

Trustee Richard Caglia doubled down on the promise to save the program in an interview with The Bee.

“Come hell or high water we’re going to find a solution,” Caglia said.

The move to end the program caught the district’s board of trustees off guard. Elected leaders only learned the program was ending when a student spoke out at a public meeting earlier this year, according to Board President John Leal.

Leal and other trustees have said the board should have been advised of the decision beforehand.

The program has been paid for with money allocated for parking lot maintenance. District officials said that money is now needed to fix parking lots.

Other elected officials from the City of Fresno also have pledged to help find ways to keep the program alive and district leaders have said they are working to find alternative funding.

“The District has put together a task force on this issue and has been working hard to find a long term solution,” said Lucy Ruiz, the district’s public information officer. “We have been meeting with local, state, and federal agencies to locate funding which may come from multiple sources.”

SCCCD trustees will discuss extending the program through the summer at Mach 10 meeting, Ruiz said, and the district is going to continue to work closely with Fresno City Associated Student Government. The district has also applied for a grant through the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution and Control District to help fund the program.

The Fresno City Council will discuss partnering with SCCCD to find funding for the program at Thursday’s meeting.

Student funding?

On Tuesday, the ASG at Fresno City College unanimously approved a resolution asking students to vote on paying a fee - up to $10 - each semester to support the busing program.

Students could vote as soon as a month, but only if SCCCD and other partners don’t find a way to sustain the bus pass program, according to Deron Walker, president of the Associated Student Government at Fresno City College.

“It’s only a possibility that we would tax ourselves in an effort to try and resolve this situation in the case that our district or community partners are not able to grant any funding for this (program),” said Walker said.

Caglia said he “admires” and “respects” the ASG is willing to pitch in and help with funding the program.

Caglia and Trustee Eric Payne are both looking into ways AB-617 funding could be used to fund this program. Money from the bill is used to monitor and prevent air pollution in disadvantaged communities.