News
The Sierra Community College District will cut $2.7 million from its $96 million budget this year, and another $5.6 million from the 2010-11 budget because of declining state revenues.
Nancy Palmer, who has represented Nevada County on the board of trustees for 15 years, called the budget situation “the worst thing that has ever happened to Sierra College in its history.”
The community college district voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt the provisions for the next two years.
The college would have had to cut an additional $5.6 million for this fiscal year, but is using $5.6 million in reserves to lessen the impact.
The move still leaves the community college district with just over 8 percent of its budget in reserve.
“We had to do this. We have no choice,” Palmer said.
The district, which serves about 20,000 students in campuses in Grass Valley, Truckee, Roseville and the main campus in Rocklin, will essentially begin the 2010-11 budget with a $5.6 million hole, Nevada County-area trustee Aaron Klein said.
Thus, most of the cuts will come then, he said.
“The best way to implement these cuts will be ways that still protect our students,” he said.
The cuts for the current year, he said, will come at the department and division level and will affect support staff and materials in those areas.
While core services such as classes are likely to remain, other areas will be trimmed.
“There will be slower response times for services,” Klein said. “And there already is far more demand than we have resources for. We'll have to make do with what we have.”
The cuts come as per-unit community college fees have risen this fall and enrollment at the Nevada County campus is up slightly.
Sierra College president Leo Chavez has said that cuts to the Nevada County and Truckee campuses may not be as severe because those campuses are growing.
New and remodeling construction began this fall at the Nevada County campus, with the money coming from a bond passed a few years ago.
“We'll probably have some minor cuts, but it will not be as bad as Rocklin,” Palmer said.
The fact that the next year begins with a deficit is of great concern to trustees, Klein said.
“My concern with this budget, which I expressed strongly (Tuesday) night at the meeting, was that our institution is choosing to push most of the pain of these cuts to next year. As a result, we'll have to get the budget back into balance next year, and closing a $5.6 million gap in a single year will be one of the most painful and challenging experiences Sierra College has ever experienced,” Klein wrote in his blog, aaronklein.com.
“We will spend today until June 2010 figuring out how to do that in a way that protects students as much as possible,” Klein said Wednesday.
Nancy Palmer, who has represented Nevada County on the board of trustees for 15 years, called the budget situation “the worst thing that has ever happened to Sierra College in its history.”
The community college district voted unanimously Tuesday to adopt the provisions for the next two years.
The college would have had to cut an additional $5.6 million for this fiscal year, but is using $5.6 million in reserves to lessen the impact.
The move still leaves the community college district with just over 8 percent of its budget in reserve.
“We had to do this. We have no choice,” Palmer said.
The district, which serves about 20,000 students in campuses in Grass Valley, Truckee, Roseville and the main campus in Rocklin, will essentially begin the 2010-11 budget with a $5.6 million hole, Nevada County-area trustee Aaron Klein said.
Thus, most of the cuts will come then, he said.
“The best way to implement these cuts will be ways that still protect our students,” he said.
The cuts for the current year, he said, will come at the department and division level and will affect support staff and materials in those areas.
While core services such as classes are likely to remain, other areas will be trimmed.
“There will be slower response times for services,” Klein said. “And there already is far more demand than we have resources for. We'll have to make do with what we have.”
The cuts come as per-unit community college fees have risen this fall and enrollment at the Nevada County campus is up slightly.
Sierra College president Leo Chavez has said that cuts to the Nevada County and Truckee campuses may not be as severe because those campuses are growing.
New and remodeling construction began this fall at the Nevada County campus, with the money coming from a bond passed a few years ago.
“We'll probably have some minor cuts, but it will not be as bad as Rocklin,” Palmer said.
The fact that the next year begins with a deficit is of great concern to trustees, Klein said.
“My concern with this budget, which I expressed strongly (Tuesday) night at the meeting, was that our institution is choosing to push most of the pain of these cuts to next year. As a result, we'll have to get the budget back into balance next year, and closing a $5.6 million gap in a single year will be one of the most painful and challenging experiences Sierra College has ever experienced,” Klein wrote in his blog, aaronklein.com.
“We will spend today until June 2010 figuring out how to do that in a way that protects students as much as possible,” Klein said Wednesday.
