L.A. Community Colleges May Lose $600,000 to State

Controversy over a push to increase funding for building projects at Los Angeles community colleges has heated up with the revelation that the Los Angeles district may not be able to spend all the state funds it has already received.

The shabby condition of some community college facilities in Los Angeles has long been the source of complaints among students and faculty in the nine-campus Los Angeles Community College District.

SB 1283, now before Gov. Gray Davis, represents an attempt to change this pattern by giving aging, urban districts such as Los Angeles’ greater priority in receiving money from limited state bond funds.

State officials say the bill, sponsored by state Sen. Richard Polanco (D-Los Angeles), could result in a significant boost in funds for Los Angeles.

But because it also might mean less money for fast-growing districts elsewhere, state Community College Chancellor Thomas Nussbaum has opposed the bill.

Now, in the flurry of last-minute lobbying over the bill, Los Angeles community college officials have acknowledged that they may have to return as much as $600,000 in bond funds to the state this year because the district hasn’t completed some projects in time for a Nov. 30 deadline.

The projects include electrical improvements at Pierce College and air-conditioning improvements at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College.

District officials downplayed the problem, saying that they still are trying to find ways to avoid allowing the $600,000 to revert to the state.

The problem, said Los Angeles district Vice Chancellor Bonnie James, is that the work cannot be completed until classes halt for the holidays. Although the money was allocated in the 1996-97 fiscal year, he said, it took several years to get repair work underway.