Budget cuts at SMC raise questions
Santa Monica College Main Campus on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, at 1900 Pico Blvd in Santa Monica, Calif. (Silke Eichholz | The Corsair)
On Feb. 11, 2025, Santa Monica College (SMC) superintendent and president Dr. Kathryn Jeffery sent an email to SMC personnel regarding budget updates at the College. The email had information on SMC being in a deficit and how Jeffery plans to combat this loss of revenue. Following this email, the Board of Trustees held a meeting on March 4, 2025, where SMC faculty were able to express their views about the cuts and ask questions.
In January 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom released the state budget for 2025-26; SMC is expected to receive an amount of funding similar to the 2024-25 year. However, there is an issue bubbling up to the surface regarding SMC’s continued “hold harmless” status per the Student Centered Funding Formula (SCFF) of California Community Colleges.
“Hold harmless guaranteed that community college districts like SMC that might be negatively impacted by the SCFF received at least their 2017-2018 funding, adjusted for COLA,” wrote Jeffery. In Newsom’s proposed budget, hold harmless districts are no longer granted funds for cost-of-living adjustments and expenses (COLA).
Jeffery wrote in the email that the detrimental fires that devastated the community in January directly affected many SMC students and staff, though it is not certain how the fires will affect enrollment. The legislature is planning out enrollment backfill for colleges affected by the fires. SMC and other impacted colleges could receive “an extended number of years of current funding” that could be increased by COLA.
“SMC is experiencing a multi-year structural deficit,” wrote Jeffery, which translates to the college's expenses being significantly more than their revenue. If the legislature follows through with enrollment backfill and COLA, which would shrink the deficit, the current prediction is an $11 million structural deficit for the 2025-26 year. Even in that case, SMC would have $11 million worth of reductions to carry out.
In response to these projected reductions, Jeffery has devised a long-term plan, including staff reductions implemented along a three-year schedule, non-personnel expense reductions, fund shifts and organizational realignments. Jeffery also said that “several senior staff are expected to retire within the next year.” In addition, class schedules will be reduced starting in summer 2025 and all the way through the 2025-26 year.
The email from Jeffery included a short-term plan, effective immediately. The plan freezes approved hiring unless the position vacancy “stop(s) a vital District function”; eliminates overtime unless the expense is reimbursed from an outside source, is needed for a vital District function or involves public safety; and freezes contracts unless they are required for a vital District function or public safety. The plan also reduces spring classes and counseling hours.
There have been some responses to these budget cuts, with some community members viewing the cuts toward certain staff and the reduction of classes and counseling hours as unfair. Dr. Peter Morse, physics professor and SMC Faculty Association president, spoke at the Board of Trustees meeting on March 4. Morse presented slides and expressed his views on the budget cuts and where he predicts the impacts will be directed.
Morse said that there are two budgets given throughout the year: the tentative budget in June and the adopted budget in September. These two budgets allow the College to plan out what they can provide for students throughout the year. Additionally, the end of the fiscal year is when the actual expenditures and revenues reports are received.
These two budgets are “crucial, as I say, in setting what’s going to happen next,” said Morse, regarding the tentative and adopted budgets. A bleak outlook on the tentative budget could result in classes being canceled, reduced counseling hours and a reduction in hiring full-time faculty. Morse said, “We don’t find out till June, if we’re lucky, what the state budget’s going to look like.”
Since 2013, the average difference between the College’s tentative budget and the adopted budget is around $4 million. Morse spoke on how these yearly differences in allotted money could have been used to help the students at SMC. The difference between the end of the fiscal year and the adopted budget averages to around $4.5 million, which means there is over an $8 million increase at the end of the fiscal year.
“Faculty costs of salary and retirement benefits are not driving this college’s expenditure slash revenue imbalance,” said Morse, while presenting slides to the Board. The College’s expenditures have risen from 3.47% in the last 15 years to 4.70% in the last five years; meanwhile, the faculty salary and retirement benefit increases have risen from 3.12% in the last 15 years to 4.07% in the last five years, according to the data in his presentation.
Jamar London, math instructor and SMC Academic Senate president, also spoke at the meeting and reflected on the need for certain classes and why adjunct, or part-time, faculty are beneficial to the college and the students. London said that students need to be allowed access to specific classes in order for them to propel forward in their lives while also being able to make money.
The importance of adjunct faculty was highlighted by London, who said they help the students of SMC because they love what they do and they want to see SMC prosper. London continued by saying how crucial part-time employees are to the campus, and ended his speech by saying that adjunct faculty should not be viewed as “the easiest place where we can sort of make changes.”
The California School Employees Association (CSEA) spoke at the March 4 meeting and said the layoff deadline notice was approaching, which would have been March 15. However, on March 20, Grace Smith, SMC Director of Public Information, said no employees were notified about layoffs or demotions on March 15.