LONG BEACH : City College to Lose 270 Classes in January

Long Beach City College trustees have passed a budget that will slash about 270 classes in January.

Classes will be eliminated “across-the-board--business, mathematics, art, history, you name it,” said Kamiran Badrkhan, vice president of academic affairs. The college is offering about 3,000 classes this semester.

Officials will reduce the number of part-time instructors next semester. About 10 unfilled non-teaching positions, such as clerk-typists, a secretary and custodial supervisor, have also been eliminated.

The $54.8-million budget, which is below last year’s $55.7-million spending plan, includes money for six additional instructors, however.

The college will also have to delay plans to revamp the science building and buy new equipment for the art building because legislators rejected a proposed November ballot measure to sell bonds to pay for such improvements, officials said.

Trustee Judith Powell criticized the drop in state funds for community colleges.

“At virtually every meeting, we hear (from administrators) about how the revenue stream is not what we thought it was,” she said. “We have to keep adjusting and readjusting, and it’s hard to make promises to the community.”