Most Southwestern College employees and board members acknowledge that the district has budgetary challenges. Getting them to agree on what that number is has been a problem.
SWC administrators warn of a $6.8 million deficit in Fiscal Year 13-14. They are insisting that salary reductions and layoffs may be necessary. Recently though, that figure has ben whittled down to about $5 million by some senior administrators.
With ongoing savings from a 10 percent cut to supply budgets along with $792,770 in new money from the state, the projected deficit for next year is around $5 million, according to documents from Vice President of Business and Financial Affairs Steve Crow.
Classified union and management meet and confer representatives generally agree with the figures. Faculty union leaders soundly reject them.
Last May, all bargaining units on campus agreed to a one-year, five percent salary cut in order to temporarily solve what administrators call a “structural deficit.”
This year classified, confidential and management employees agreed to another two years of cuts. Faculty, however, have refused to go along. SWC’s governing board announced it will not layoff employees. Nearly half of the $5 million deficit has already been found through deals with the California School Employees Association (CSEA) and Southwestern Community College District Administrators Association (SCCDAA). Some classified employees and their negotiators expressed anger that the board pulled layoffs from the table for faculty.
“I wish they decided that back in November when we were in negotiations,” said Bruce MacNintch, CSEA chapter president. “We were told if there was not an agreement by each of the groups, that group would have to come up with their share. If the share couldn’t be found through negotiations, it would have to be found through job reductions. That’s layoffs.”
MacNintch said the CSEA would renegotiate if the district was willing, but the problem of a structural deficit remains.
“They keep talking about magic money coming down from Sacramento,” he said. “But they can’t plan a budget based on what they hope will happen. They have to plan a budget on what they know will happen. As of right now we’re $5 million short.”
A deal reached between the classified union and SWC district ultimately amounts to a five percent reduction in salary, through furlough days, for the classified staff for the next two years. Administrator and confidential groups made a similar deal with the district.
“When the gun is pointed at your head and the trigger is cocked, that’s how they negotiated with three of the groups,” said MacNintch. “Now they say we don’t believe in violence.”
No deal has yet been reached with the faculty union.
“At this point there was a resolution passed by our representative body which basically does state that they do not want us to negotiate salary cuts,” said Professor of Communication Eric Maag, the SCEA president. “That’s really the only functional part of that resolution. The rest is probably either symbolic or unnecessary.”
Maag said the faculty union does not believe the $5.8 million deficit is an accurate figure since the district has not provided the SCEA with information showing how much has been saved this year from vacant positions, cuts to the Part Time/Over Load (PTOL) budget and section reductions. He said with accurate information and accurate numbers progress can be made towards reaching an agreement with the district.
“We filed several official requests and we tried to request it in the meetings and we’re told we’d be given it, but it never happens,” said Maag. “So we’re forced to do the official requests so that we can get that information. But when we got that information back it’s been sometimes inaccurate and does not reflect the savings that are being accrued this year.”
Earlier this month SWC Governing Board Trustee William Stewart made the same charges in a letter of resignation that shocked the campus community. Crow said he has provided SCEA with all the documents that have been requested from his office.
“There have been some additional requests for information and I know that they are being provided that as well,” he said.
A student success focus from the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges will further constrain where existing and new funds will be directed, according to Dr. Rebecca Wolniewicz, student learning outcome coordinator.
“Requirements for adequate staff, resource and organizational structure are not new,” she said. “What is new is the expectation that there be funds oriented to provide support and student learning. Institutions will be evaluated on how our resources are distributed to support student success.”
Wolniewicz said the ACCJC also expects funds to be allocated to programs that support student success when times are tough. She said she believes cuts over the years to PTOL, tutoring, learning assistance services in library hours and classes will have a negative impact on SWC’s 2015 accreditation self-evaluation report.
“The cuts we make today, just this month, are going to affect our ability to stay accredited in the future,” she said. “So when you make your considerations please consider student success and that new requirements of moving our resources towards them.”
Governing Board President Humberto Peraza said he expects around $2 million in extra revenue from the state.
“We’re all working very hard on spending a lot of time on the budget, trying to figure out what our budget is going to look like,” he said. “Steve Crow is working very hard, Melinda is working very hard, we’re trying to make sure if there are changes to our budget they’re included. If there are vacancies and savings, we can include those.”
Peraza said the district needs to create a realistic budget and make decisions based on it.
“It took a long time to get into this mess, it took a long time to destroy the foundation of this college,” he said. “We’re rebuilding this college brick by brick and that takes a long time.”