District prepares for worst

Following the release of the governor's mid-year budget proposal, district administrators remain wary and are preparing for any potential losses.

As the final budget has not yet been passed, nothing is certain. "There's been a variety of proposals for cuts, but everything is very much up in the air," Contra Costa College Vice President Carol Maga said. "The governor would like to keep as much funding as possible for the community colleges."

Along with the colleges at the California State University and University of California levels, the district is preparing to face the worst.

"We're already down to a bare-bones budget," CCC President McKinley Williams said. "(Mid-year cuts) will be an additional burden on the college. We'll have to start prioritizing what we consider most important."

According to Kindred Murillo, vice chancellor of districtwide administrative services, the "rainy day" reserve funds accumulated by the district may not last much longer.

"By June (2009), we had $11.5 million, and it was reduced by $7.9 million this year," she said. "(The district) will know how much we need to reduce our budget for 2010-11 by the end of February. We're in as good of shape as anybody else in the state."   

Among the proposed cuts include suspending the competitive Cal grant program. In addition, $10 million would be reduced from the EOPS budget.

EOPS, which served 1,201 CCC students in 2008-09, is expecting to serve between 800 and 850 students in 2009-10, despite being capped at 525 students due to budget cuts from the previous year.  

"I think (cuts would be) the wrong decision," EOPS Manager Vicki Ferguson said. "It's disheartening to turn away students who qualify (for financial aid). But we're always hopeful and will continue to meet our mission statement of helping students meet their educational goals."

A positive highlight of the proposed budget includes $126 million to fund enrollment growth of approximately 26,000 new full-time students, according to the Community College League of California.

Murillo said this particular aspect of the proposal is unlikely to happen, however, due to a lack of funding.

"It would be nice, but we don't think that's feasible because we don't see how they could give us more growth money," she said.   

Administrators at both the college and district levels believe that budget cuts are not a wise move to make, particularly when the economy is still making progress toward recovery.

"(At community colleges), we educate people for jobs and transfer education," Williams said. "It's vital for students at risk.

"We provide them with safety nets, and it becomes devastating to those who need them most," he said.

Murillo said the possible budget cuts are a "terrible solution."

"If you look at how much it costs to educate a student at a community college and compare it to the UCs and CSUs, we do a lot of educating at very little cost," she said.  "When you take away money, you're taking away an education opportunity from people who can't afford college."

Contact Lauren Shiraishi at lshiraishi.advocate@gmail.com