Building to House Mission College Is Added to Panel’s Budget Request

Mission College, which has operated out of storefronts for more than a decade, moved closer to getting a permanent Sylmar campus when a California Community Colleges Board of Governors committee Thursday approved adding $9 million for construction of a single Mission building to its budget request.

The Los Angeles Community College District had asked the governing board for $13.9 million for the construction of two buildings on the site near the El Cariso Regional Park. But some board members were reluctant to grant the district’s request because of the district’s continuing financial problems and its anemic enrollment. Last fall about 93,026 students were enrolled in the nine-campus system, down from a record of 139,168 in 1981.

The committee’s recommendation that $9 million be allocated for a Mission College building is expected to be approved by the entire governing board at its meeting in Los Angeles today.

“We looked at whether a college should exist and whether it would flourish in that area,” said Joshua L. Smith, chancellor of the state community colleges. “We came to the conclusion that a college should be there and that it could flourish.”

If, as expected, the California Postsecondary Commission goes along with the one-building proposal, the expenditure will be forwarded to the state Legislature, where it will be added to the state community colleges’ 1986-1987 construction budget.

Further Approval Needed

The $9 million still must be approved by the Legislature and Gov. George Deukmejian.

Supporters of Mission College, however, had little time to savor their victory because Los Angeles district trustees have begun exploring the possibility of scrapping plans to make Mission a comprehensive two-year college and instead make it a satellite of Pierce College in Woodland Hills. The trustees were told earlier this week that they will have to make deep cuts or face a $8.7-million deficit in the 1986-1987 budget.

According to a spokesman, the district could save several million dollars in personnel and administrative costs if Mission and Southwest College, which is near Inglewood, were absorbed by neighboring community colleges. Traditionally, Mission and Southwest have had the smallest enrollments in the nine-college system.

The proposal calls for Southwest to become an instructional center attached to Los Angeles Trade Technical College. Mission would continue operating, but with a limited curriculum.

Proposed Once Before

Dan Means, acting president of Mission, said Thursday that a proposal to make Mission a satellite campus was made once before and that the trustees turned it down. He added that he feels confident that the trustees will find other ways to save money.

Pat Seavers, president of the Academic Senate at Mission College, said the small school’s enrollment is growing and it should not be penalized.

“We have done our job. Don’t hold us accountable for the rest of the district,” Seavers said.