Pasadena City College (Creative Commons)

California Community Colleges continue to adjust finances with a grievous attitude that initiatives to hike taxes won't pass in the coming election.  

Pasadena City College and Santa Monica College are among those gaining attention in the greater Los Angeles region for their battles with budget cuts as colleges across the state enter negotiations about what they can afford to lose. 

Edwin Deas, College of the Desert's Vice President of Business Affairs, says the school's recent proposal to slash 100 more courses in 2013 is directly connected to depleted funds.  He expects another cut of $1.8 million if voters don't pass a tax initiative in November.

"We can't wait for that to happen, so we're making adjustments now," said Deas.  "That might be seen as conservative, and it is conservative, but we need to be ready."

Last month, the California Community Colleges received an unannounced budget cut of $149 million-- a 2.75 percent budget decrease.  This added to the $400 million cut to the 2011-12 budget and $102 million slash to funding mid-year last December.  

Since 2008, the system of 112 colleges experienced losses totaling $806 million.

In a press release that followed February's cuts, California Community College Chancellor Jack Scott said his office is working to restore funds to the current fiscal year through talks with the governor and legislatures.  Scott attributed the unexpected slash to high demands in student fee waivers and surprisingly low property tax revenues.  

“This $149 million reduction is unexpected and even larger than the mid-year trigger cut that the community college system has already endured,” said Chancellor Scott. “This will result in colleges further reducing course sections, additional borrowing and staff reductions. The new 2.75 percent budget decrease is effectively doubled because colleges only have a half year to try to find savings."

The 100 courses removed from College of the Desert's 2012-13 curriculum add to the 300 already clipped from the 2011-12 fiscal year, in addition to the adjunct faculty who teach them.  But Deas reiterated that the projected cuts are merely precautionary.  

"We presented a five year fiscal solvency plan to the Board of Trustees Friday that detailed our best-guess of where savings would be," said Deas.  "We want to make hard cuts to anything we can do without."

In the current climate, however, such plans are not taken lightly.  Pasadena City College (PCC) eliminated 45 classes at the start of the current spring semester.   A total of 428 students were impacted--some of whom were heading toward graduation. 

Advancing the public's attention to the woes of the California community colleges, irate students staged a protest at the PCC campus in light of the slashed courses.  It served as a precursor to a series of student demonstrations demanding answers from administration and state officials, including the rally held at the Capitol on March 5.

Juan Gutierrez, PCC director of Public Relations, said he was excited to hear PCC students went to Sacramento to protest at the Capitol.  He thinks people are becoming more educated about state budget cuts as the source of the problem.

"Students are still coming to board meetings and voicing opinions, which is great because that's why we have them," said Gutierrez, "but it's not that the administration wants to [make cuts], we just don't have the money."

To lessen the blow on students affected by courses being cut, PCC announced it will hold classes during an inter-session dubbed "Spring Forward to Completion." Enrollment priorities will be awarded to students who would have completed their degree or certificate by spring or summer, said Gutierrez.

"This will free up seat for those coming up behind them and helps students to move on to what they want to do in the fall," said Gutierrez.

Santa Monica College (SMC) clashes with the California ideals of affordable higher-education by proposing fees anywhere from $600 to $800 per course for classes in high demand.  The two-tiered education system would be the first of its kind in the country, creating a nonprofit foundation to offer popular classes at prices close to $200 per unit compared to the current $36 per unit, L.A. Times reported.

SMC has removed more than 1,000 classes since 2008. 

"It's creating a two-tiered system of wealthier students who can afford classes and struggling working-class and low-income students competing for the scraps of what's left; it's definitely a move in the wrong direction," Student Government President Harrison Wills told the L.A. Times.

Gutierrez at PCC argues community colleges lack options right now.  They have to scramble to accommodate cuts and hope for the best come November.  

If a tax initiative for higher education doesn't pass in November and property taxes continue to go down, Gutierrez says PCC will see a $6.4 million shortfall next year.

"Our eye is on the next fiscal year and the ballot initiatives," said Gutierrez.  "On the budget front, we're just waiting on Sacramento." 

Reach reporter Lauren Foliart here.