EAST LOS ANGELES : Students May Sue to Recover Funding

East Los Angeles College students upset that the school did not receive all the funding it was due for the next fiscal year plan to ask community college district officials this week to pay up--or be sued.

The Los Angeles Community College District board earlier this month decided to allocate the school an additional $959,000 over its current budget of $19.4 million for the fiscal year beginning July 1. The school, the largest in the nine-campus system, should have received $1.9 million under the district’s funding formula, based largely on enrollment.

The college, whose 16,000-student enrollment was up 3% over the previous year, was shortchanged to subsidize other schools where enrollment has dropped.

Acting East Los Angeles College President Ernie Moreno said the funding shortfall would prevent the college from improving its course offerings, hiring more faculty, making repairs in some buildings and attending to other needs.

But overall he was satisfied with the funding outcome since the district had originally offered only $725,000 and the board agreed to place East Los Angeles College first in line for any additional money that may come in.

“We are certainly thankful for the $959,000,” Moreno said. “We are one of only three colleges that will receive an increase. Everyone else is losing funding so we were happy with the comparative increase.” (Valley and Los Angeles City colleges are the others.)

Some students are not so pleased and plan to let the board know that at its meeting Wednesday.

Gerardo Pinedo, 20, president of the Associated Students Organization, said his group was encouraged by the additional $200,000 allocation but still wants the district to appropriate the full $1.9-million increase that the college would have received.

Students fear the funding shortfall will lead to crowded classes, fewer courses and other inconveniences.

“We like the progress of the additional $200,000 but we’re still not happy,” said Pinedo, whose group plans to file a lawsuit Tuesday or Wednesday to force the board to stick with the formula.

Details of the suit will be worked out this week, Pinedo said, “as soon as we’re done with finals.”

Pinedo, an English and psychology major who plans to attend law school, said students themselves would draft the suit because the college would not authorize their check for an attorney.

College officials doubted the suit would prove anything beyond a symbolic statement of disagreement with the board, whose May 17 decision was final, Moreno said.