GROSSMONT COLLEGE — Every student has heard the rumors: “Grossmont is cutting classes; the school is over budget, and several students are not getting the classes they need to graduate.” Although these are just ‘rumors’, they are not exactly untrue.
What is Grossmont planning to cut? Is your class in danger? Though specifics have not been stated, at the Academic Senate meeting held last Monday some ideas were given. “All in all, we are expecting to cut about 3% across all departments,” said Tim Flood, the VP of facilities.
Since last year, Grossmont has cut hundreds of classes from its schedule.
Like many colleges in the state, Grossmont is struggling with a budget crisis. Currently, the school is over capacity by 961 students. This means there are currently 961 people for which there are no funds.
“Though we are looking at many different scenarios, they range from bad to worse,” said Flood.
Statewide budget cuts from Governor Jerry Brown present the Grossmont/Cuyamaca district with a spectrum of possible loss: 2,000 students will be left out of Grossmont’s Fall 2011 semester, if the district budget has a shortfall of $4.6 million; whereas 5,000 students will be left out if $12.6 million in cuts are required.
There are a few items that could help to keep the deficit towards the low end. In June, there is a proposed tax package. Though some Californians believe these are new taxes, they are actually just time extensions on the taxes which are already in place.
The tax package could help, but Californians do not like taxes. These taxes include auto registration, personal income tax, sales tax and more. The revenue will be disbursed among local governments.
Along with this package, Governor Brown is proposing a suspension of Proposition 98, which was set up to gurantee certain levels of educational funding.
If Prop 98 gets suspended and the June Tax package does not pass, Grossmont Community College District will be looking at the high-end budget deficit of over $12.6. With all that said, budget cuts are coming and they will cause student cuts.
At Grossmont, if classes are not filling up, or there are multiple sections of the same subject, they will be cut. At the Academic Senate meeting on Monday, Flood asked all faculty to look into their own classes and make suggestions.
The decision has not been finalized on whether to cut Summer classes altogether or just reduce the amount offered. However, it is definite that, regardless of what happens over the summer, cuts will definitely be noticed by the Fall 2011 schedule.
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Angela Streeper is a student in MCOMM132; email her at [email protected]
