Kern Community College District Chancellor Sandra Serrano conducted a town hall meeting Sept. 10 in Forum East to discuss the budget and the future of Bakersfield College.
Some of the priorities Serrano addressed were bringing the colleges mission and core values in line with continuing state budget reductions and increasing student success.
She said those priorities were preparing student for transfers, bringing their basic skills up to college level, and preparing them for the work force.
Sean James, vice chancellor of operations, addressed the budget issues.
The district saw a number of years back that the California budget wasn’t sustainable so Serrano and the board set up a district reserve fund and a college reserve fund.
James said KCCD’s funding is primarily from the state and closely tied to the state’s fiscal guidelines.
According to the numbers, BC’s 2010-2011 reserve was over $4.4 million, and the 2011-2012 grew to $6.8 million. James said that in 2011-2012 the state cut BC revenues by $4.8 million, and another cut of $3.5 is estimated for the 2012-2013 school year.
The governor’s Proposition 30 tax initiative has benefits for community colleges, but its passage will, technically, just bring BC revenues back to the 2011-2012 levels.
“Even if it does pass, it doesn’t give the district more money,” James said. “It just reverses that cut back up to $63 million. And even then, I will still have to find another $1.1 million that can be cut.”
If Proposition 30 doesn’t pass, James will need to find another $5.2 million to balance the 2012-2013 school year. He said that property tax revenues are coming in lower. The state is giving the district 97 cents on the dollar, and a three percent tax is a big cut.
“I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. I can tell you the dollar value. They [BC] tell me what they’re going to offer. I tell them what it’s going to cost,” James said.
KCCD has further saved by centralizing and sharing services such as Information Technology, Human Resources, and Accounting. James said by doing so BC will save 33 percent of the total cost.
Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, interim president, said that the governor’s legislation comes at a very critical time.
“The legislation that is being proposed for our state, will not just shape our future at BC, [but] it will dramatically change what we look like in the near future.”
Even if the initiative passes, BC must still reduce expenditures by an additional $2.2 million. She said that would impact student services. It will also impact how many sections BC offers, and even the amount of staff on the campus.
Michele Bresso, associate vice chancellor of Governmental and External Relations, addressed the cuts from a district perspective.
She said that even if the initiative passes, the district would still have to cut $2.5 million. Attrition will absorb most of the revenues lost by not filing vacant positions and retirement, but it is still a cut.
If the tax initiative does not pass the district will cut $8.6 million, which means that the district will eliminate 1,400 full-time equivalent students.
According to Bresso, a full-time equivalent student is one carrying 12 to 15 units. Because BC has so many part-time students, funding is based on what adds up to full-time equivalent criteria.
The district will also eliminate approximately 430 class sections. She said a section is a class that has it own CRN number and that a course may have multiple sections.
“Our district has already realized a 22 percent reduction in class sections since 2008,” she said. “Over the last several years [we’ve seen] a continual decline in the number of sections students can choose from to complete their education.”
And with fewer sections, 32 full-time equivalent faculty will also be cut. She said some adjuncts would teach fewer sections because those sections will go to the full-time faculty.
She suggested that students should be proactive in their educational pursuits, and they can do this by taking care of their basic skills reading and math classes in their first year. They should also speak with a counselor and develop an educational plan.
“Students have, by the very nature of their numbers, have a powerful voice,” she said. “There are a lot of students. And students’ voices in the voting booth are important. So if there is one thing students can do, now and in the future to help community colleges have a voice, are register to vote, and be an active voter.”