Fresno-area community colleges losing millions of dollars. What it means for students

In the wake of uncertainty colleges face during the coronavirus pandemic, State Center Community College trustees passed a tentative budget that will allow the district to pay its employees over the summer while waiting for more reliable numbers from the state later in the year.

Officials are preparing for an estimated 10% reduction in funding for the 2020-2021 year, or about $15.4 million, according to Cheryl Sullivan, vice-chancellor of finance and administration.

The tentative budget adopted Tuesday avoids teacher layoffs and furloughs, but leaves some other jobs vacant and some hourly employees may not be rehired.

Since the state will also defer cash payments to the colleges for a few months this summer and next summer, the district will have to look at increasing reserves in the general fund.

The California Community College system is looking at a $1.5 billion loss compared to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s January budget proposal.

Taking the most significant hit at 60% is the statewide Strong Workforce Program, which focuses on career technical education and workforce training. It will lose $148 million in funding, followed by the Student Equity and Achievement Program, which will lose $85 million.

State Center’s budget, which passed unanimously Tuesday, does not include any cost-of-living adjustments or new programs but does include $193,000 set aside for the hard-won bus pass program that students fought for earlier in the year.

The district will also freeze $671,000 in positions and cut hourly and student positions to a minimum.

“Students that are helping the police department, tutorial students, student ambassadors, students that are CalWORKs and fully funded by federal work-study, those are going to be excluded (from cuts),” Sullivan said.

“When COVID hit, we really kind of stopped and said what can we pause on — and I do mean pause on — for right now so that we can have time to make sure that we have enough money to pay the people that we hire.”

State Center employees who work on campus have already cut down to a four-day workweek. According to Sullivan, the move saves electricity costs because the buildings don’t have to run air conditioning on Fridays.

A ‘flash fire’

During the late-2000s recession, it took five years to see this much of a budget loss to community colleges, Sullivan said.

“It was kind of a slow-boiling pot, and now it’s just this flash fire,” she said. “We are funded less than a K-12 (public schools), and yet we’re going to be asked to do more in this economic time than at any other time, and probably more than any other system.”

Local community colleges are expecting an increase in enrollment during the upcoming fall semester as people look to retrain after losing their jobs and a rise in high school graduates. Yet, the state is asking colleges to essentially do “more with less,” Sullivan said.

Student access to technology will be the most significant determining factor for their ability to attend college this fall, leaders said, and the need for technology and technology infrastructure is climbing.

The good news, Sullivan said, is that the state will not cut its Cal Grant program, which last year helped pay tuition and other costs for over 548,000 students in the state. The California College Promise, which gives some first-time college students two years of free schooling, will also remain in place.

Also not on the chopping block are projects funded by bonds, including Fresno City College’s new science building, parking structure and the West Fresno and First Responder campuses.

Leaders are hoping for the passage of the HEROES Act, another coronavirus relief bill that would allocate more funding to colleges and close gaps in the budget. However, the $3 trillion bill as-is is not expected to pass the Republican-controlled U.S. Senate, state leaders acknowledge.

Sullivan at the May meeting said the district was looking at a $36 million cut, but that was before the state budget was revised.

Tax revenues won’t be known until August, and the district plans to finalize its budget on Sept. 1, though there will likely be updates during the rest of the year, Sullivan said.

“This is very much a moving target in terms of our budget,” said Chancellor Paul Parnell. “We are confident this will not be the final budget you’ll see in September, nor the final budget you’ll see in December.”

Parking pass program

The board on Tuesday also tabled a new parking pass program that would charge students a $4.50 convenience fee to buy their $30 pass online.

The point of the program would be to reduce the need to stand in line and buy a pass, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sullivan said. But by switching to the program, the district would pay more to print the pass if a student bought it in person than it does now: 17 cents to $2.50.

Trustees also said students would not want to pay the convenience fee and would rather purchase in-person instead, negating the reason for the program. Trustees asked to take up the issue in July, after conducting a survey and counseling with the Associated Student Government.

Dedicated to George Floyd

Parnell dedicated Tuesday’s meeting to George Floyd, whose death at the hands of a police officer in Minneapolis ignited nationwide protests.

Trustee Eric Payne praised Fresno City College leaders for supporting black students and faculty and standing up for social injustices.

He said he hoped other leaders would take an in-depth look at how the district educates its police officers by revising the curriculum.

“I think it’s great that we’ve taken a step to be inclusive of community policing,” he said, “but I think we need to go a step further because by no means can I change the color of my skin to where I’m not brutally murdered for just living, for jogging, for walking with my family in my neighborhood.”

He said colleges were historically not made for people of color.

“Racism is prevalent in the institutional fabric,” he said. “This time it was George Floyd. But there have been many names that I think we could shout out. I think it leaves many of us simultaneously both unable to frame words while experiencing a plethora of thoughts and emotions about the senseless acts of violence.”

The Education Lab is a local journalism initiative that highlights education issues critical to the advancement of the San Joaquin Valley. It is funded by donors. Learn about The Bee’s Education Lab on our website.