Colleges to Take Closer Look at Possible Cuts

Drawing closer to a May 15 deadline to decide about layoffs, Ventura County Community College District officials are expected to take a closer look next week at how many positions would be eliminated as they seek to close an $8-million budget gap.

The board of trustees, scheduled to meet Tuesday, issued notices of possible layoffs last month to all 400 full-time instructors at the district’s three colleges. They will have to decide soon where the cuts will come from.

“This is a horrible thing that we have to make cuts ... we’re trying to cut in ways that have the least effect on the students and on the employees,” board Vice President Cheryl Heitmann said. “Clearly, everyone has to share the pain and any cuts should be equitable.”

Gov. Gray Davis has targeted the state’s 108 community colleges as he attempts to erase an anticipated $35-billion budget shortfall. In Ventura County, the college district faces $6 million in budget cuts during the current budget cycle and an additional $8 million -- or more than 10% of its state funding -- in reductions in fiscal 2003-04.

Statewide, community colleges would face a 28% drop in general fund revenue, while the University of California and California State University systems would have to give up about 4%.

Negotiations continue between district officials and employee groups. Classified employees, for instance, have already agreed to several cost-cutting concessions to help avoid layoffs among their ranks, such as an early retirement package, health-care cuts and unpaid time off.

And an organization that speaks for several dozen top administrators, including college presidents and deans, has expressed its willingness to support a voluntary plan for each member to contribute $200 a month for 15 months to cover part of the cost of providing health insurance.

Larry Miller, president of the Ventura County Federation of College Teachers, which bargains for the largest group of workers, said his union has made it clear it would consider whatever salary cutbacks are needed to avoid layoffs among his members -- provided the sacrifice is proportionate and spread equally among all district employees, including management.

“We said we would do our fair share, but we’re not going to give them a blank check,” he said. “We’ve already taken the biggest hit, because we’ve got part-timers who have lost their jobs.”

Moorpark College, for instance, has reduced its offering of 400 summer school classes to 250, which means there will be a need for fewer part-time instructors, who usually teach during the summer. Miller said an unknown number of part-time members who are counseling and other noninstructional roles have also been let go.

Miller said his union had reached a tentative agreement with district negotiators over its own version of a retirement incentive package.

The proposal, aimed at veteran full-time employees aged 55 and older, would provide a one-time, $25,000 bonus payment to instructors who gave up their teaching careers. Such an enticement would be expected to appeal to about 30 of the union’s 1,600 members, Miller said.

Even with continued medical, dental and vision coverage for those retirees, and including the cost of salary for their replacements, Miller estimates the district could save about $7 million over five years under this deal. He said the average full-time instructor earns a salary of about $80,000.

The stumbling block, Miller said, was a refusal by the district to accept contract language guaranteeing those retired teachers would be replaced if enrollment at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges continues to grow.

Heitmann said, “We’re looking at all possible parts of the budget. I don’t think anything is sacred.” “We’ve asked the college presidents to again go back to their campuses and look for ways to save, and that doesn’t just mean cutting people.

“Look at cutting back programs, or look for ways to generate money, such as with surplus property that can be sold or used to generate funds,” she said.