SANTA ANA : College Trustees Approve 30 Layoffs

To reach the $9 million in cuts needed to balance its 1993-94 budget, the Rancho Santiago Community College District Board of Trustees has decided to lay off 30 employees.

During its meeting Monday night, the board decided to approve the layoffs, which will include secretaries, clerks and instruction aides. District officials said the reductions are necessary to balance its $57-million spending plan.

“These are gut-wrenching decisions we have to make,” said board President Brian E. Conley at the start of the meeting. “They are extremely difficult, and there is no part of this district that isn’t affected.”

Chancellor Vivian Blevins said after the meeting that the layoffs are expected to save about $1.26 million. The board previously cut $6.5 million that includes the elimination of most weekend courses. Those reductions come after more than $7 million that the district was forced to slash for the 1992-93 budget.

Blevins said district officials are cautiously optimistic that the cuts they are making will be appropriate given the funding they expect from the state. However, she added that if revenue from the state dips below the level anticipated, additional cuts will have to be made.

The impact from the cuts will be devastating, Blevins said. “Tutoring, counseling, support services, library hours--all the things we do to make our students successful we’ve had to curtail,” she said. “What we’re doing is closing the doors to thousands of students.”

This week’s cuts in personnel will also increase the workload on remaining employees, she said.

At the meeting, Trustee Charles W. (Pete) Maddox blasted the state government as being more willing to “build prisons to house the uneducated people” than improving public education.

Maddox said the state was to blame for cuts totaling 25% of the district’s budget over the past two years.

“With every step we take we’re telling students that they can’t get an education,” he said.