6:01pm |
Long Beach City College has announced a plan to address a projected budget gap of no less than $7 million next year, officials said, with proposed cuts targeting programs, courses and staff.The local junior college is bracing for another round of budget cuts from the state of California. Gov. Jerry Brown’s proposed budget package calls for a minimum of $290 million in reductions to community colleges statewide, and that amount stands to nearly triple if Brown’s proposed extension of several taxes does not receive approval to be placed on the ballot.
“LBCC is working to realign its operations with ongoing reductions in funding from California,” said LBCC President Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “The college can no longer offer all of the programs and services it once did. LBCC will focus its resources and efforts on its core mission of helping students earn certificates and degrees and transfer to four-year universities.”
On the chopping block for the 2011-12 school year are the suspension of four sports programs; the loss of 222 course sections, which is equivalent to losing 1,000 full-time students; a 5-percent salary reduction for all part-time faculty; elimination of more than 25 classified staff positions, or 5.4 percent; changes to employee benefits and an increase in employee contributions for those benefits; and the elimination of eight full-time administrative positions, or a 7-percent reduction, as well as eight mandated furlough days for all administrative positions.
“No one is pleased about the reductions, but the college must reduce expenditures to meet the funding provided by the state,” said Oakley. “LBCC will work to minimize the impact on our students and employees as much as possible during these difficult times.”
Information provided by LBCC states that the school faces at least a $7 million deficit next year, and that’s the best-case scenario. If the tax extensions do not come to fruition, the school’s budget gap stands to grow to $14 million.
These latest proposed reductions are in addition to the $9 million worth of reductions made in the last two years, LBCC officials said.