Budget cuts could force Taft College into a unique position next fall.
TC, which has seen enrollment surges over the past several years, could be turning students away.
TC usually gets an influx from outlying areas, some of them students who can’t squeeze into classes at Bakersfield College.
There might not be room for them in Taft either.
“I don’t think we are in a situation where we can take everybody that comes to us this fall,” Supt./Pres. Willy Duncan said. “I don’t see us adding any new sections (of classes) like we have in the past.”
Although the college has received some indication of where the budget will be slashed, there are still a lot of moving targets out there.
Despite the uncertainty, the Taft College Board of Trustees last week adopted a preliminary budget that is $2 million leaner than this year’s budget.
The board put its stamp of approval on a $24.5 million expenditure budget for the 2009-10 fiscal year.
But with the state legislature still wrangling over its budget, final figures are likely to be altered.
“We do a very general preliminary budget,” Vice President of Administrative Services John R. Griffith told the board. “This is a conservative preliminary budget. We’ve got a lot of discussions coming over the next few months.”
Duncan concurred.
“One of the unique things we are facing is 18 months of a national recession,” he said. “Unfortunately, we have moving targets, primarily with the cafeteria and bookstore accounts. This is a cliff notes version.”
Griffith’s budget message noted the “extreme challenges” budget planners face.
“These fiscal challenges are projected to continue into the next fiscal year as well.”
Fiscal updates from the state trickle in on a daily basis, he said, noting the budget is “based upon the most current information that we have received to date.”
Anticipated budget cuts total just over $2 million, Griffith said.
The bulk ($1.1 million) is from categorical programs, another $400,000 is a result of a property tax shortfall, and another $540,000 comes from cutbacks in general apportionment funding.
Categorical programs taking hits include basic skills, programs for disadvantaged and disabled students, instructional equipment, pay for part-time faculty and scheduled maintenance.
“We get a lot of categorical money,” Duncan said.
Proposed budget cuts include a 43 percent slash in funds that help colleges promote transfer to four-year institutions.
“If we lose 43 percent in matriculation, we will feel that,” Duncan said. “That is how we provide counseling services.”
Cutbacks in those areas could change depending on lobbying efforts in Sacramento.
California’s community colleges have put together an alternative budget they are pushing, Duncan said, that restructures cuts proposed by the governor.
One of the state’s proposals that will nick TC hard is a plan designed to save money by pulling funding for physical education courses.
“We don’t have fluff courses,” Duncan said. “This will endanger athletics. The biggest danger, though, is this puts the legislature in a position of dictating curriculum. Where does it stop?”
Taft, Calif. —
