“We have to stabilize funding and that’s the point of this bill,” Leno said.
The college still faces a $23 million shortfall next year even with help from Propositions A and 30 that voters passed last November, Chancellor Arthur Tyler said.
City College has an annual operating budget of around $192 million.
Concerns remain about the role of a special trustee, currently Robert Agrella. Leno promised to remove language now in the proposed legislation that would link the funding to the continued role of a special trustee. He said he wants to find accountability measures that are acceptable to all stakeholders.
“We’re glad to see the senator step up to solve the problem” of declining enrollment and funding, AFT 2121 President Alisa Messer said, but “our concern is the bill as currently drafted includes language that City College of San Francisco would have a special trustee appointed. We’re not ok with a special trustee” being a requirement to get funding.
Mayor Lee vowed unwavering support for City College and hailed the proposed legislation as a crucial part of ensuring the school will remain open.
“We’re here together to say that we’re taking care of business,” Lee said. Leno’s legislation “is one huge pillar in an ongoing discussion about how do we make sure that the financial challenges that have been identified as part of the accreditation is taken care of. We believe it is.”
On Feb. 7, the commission informed City College administrators that it had rejected their request for a review and “took action to reaffirm its June 2013 decision to terminate accreditation effective July 31, 2014,” according to the decision letter.
The school can now move to appeal that decision. During an appeal, the school would remain open, accredited and on show cause status, the most severe sanction before termination.
A San Francisco judge has also blocked the commission from terminating the school’s accreditation pending the results of a trial. City Attorney Dennis Herrera filed a lawsuit in August 2013 against the commission for unfair business practices.
The U.S. Department of Education found the commission out of compliance with several federal regulations and demanded it take immediate action to come into compliance, according to an Aug. 13, 2013 preliminary decision letter, which it reaffirmed in a December decision. The commission has till the end of 2014 to satisfy the Department of Education’s requirements.
