Board Discusses Budget Cuts
Cut courses were largely sidelined in favor of making the college culturally rich
At the Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, the Board largely sidelined budgetary issues that led to class and faculty cuts in favor of discussing community outreach events.
The meeting began with a discussion about SMC Start-Up Day, the annual club and resource fair held by Community & Academic Relations. A presentation from the organizers about the success of both this event, as well as the VIP day earlier in the semester, was met with positivity from the board.
Updates about accreditation and enrollment then followed. Although SMC’s enrollment is lower than the Administration hoped for, it has increased by 5% from the previous semester, an upward trajectory the Board hopes to see continue.
Discussions of upcoming events for Latinx Heritage Month made way for the Public Comments section, an hour and forty-eight minutes into the meeting.
The lone public comment came from Ren Klein, a Photography student at SMC. Klein’s focus was on a topic that hadn’t been mentioned yet: the budget deficit that is causing massive cuts to classes and faculty, impacting nearly every corner of SMC’s class offerings.
Klein voiced frustration about the faculty cuts that has led to multiple beloved and accomplished professors being let go from the SMC staff. After listing the credentials of several professors, Klein plainly stated that “These budget cuts will, in effect, cause all of these amazing adjunct [professors] to be fired.” Klein feels that whatever operating costs may come from these cuts, they are simply not worth it for the good of the student body.
After her two minutes were up and she left the Zoom call, Peter Morse, the President of the Faculty Association, gave comments on behalf of the association. Morse echoed many of the concerns that Klein had brought up, expanding on the ways that the administration’s approach to managing the budget was harming instructors, whether they be full-time, part-time or emeritus.
Once Morse’s time was over, the Board returned to discussing plans for Latinx Heritage Month, including a screening of “We Were All Here,” a documentary about the Pico neighborhood, a uniquely diverse area in Santa Monica.
As the meeting rounded its third hour, Chris Bonvenuto, the Vice President of Business and Administration, began a budget presentation. It outlined several key points of interest that explained the logic behind the cuts that Klein and Morse had spoken on.
Bonvenuto says the district is subject to a series of issues outside of its control, the largest being the looming threat of the Student-Centered Funding Formula. The formula was adopted in 2018, and it is how the state of California decides what districts get what share of funding. The more students that are enrolled, the more those students are graduating or transferring, and the greater the percentage of those students are on financial aid, the more money that district will receive.
SMC is currently under a “Hold Harmless” provision that keeps funds based on 2017 enrollment numbers, a provision that will expire at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year. In the meantime, costs have only gone up as enrollment declined 16% during the Pandemic.
SMC initially forecasted a budget deficit of $15 million for the 2022-2023 school year, but Bonvenuto happily reported that the shortfall has decreased to $10 million. He also presented the proposed 2023-2024 budget, which is projected to end with a $7 million deficit. This means the college is still losing money, which has led to cuts in every department.
The Board voted unanimously to accept the adopted budget plan. The next Board meeting is on Tuesday, October 3rd, at 5 PM.
