SAN FRANCISCO—The City College of San Francisco’s (CCSF) Southeast Center plans to hold late-start classes for the Spring 2020 semester after reports that no classes would be held. Supervisor Shamann Walton, whose district includes Bayview, a historically African-American neighborhood, was surprised to hear of the lack of instruction at the college.
“It was sneaky, it was underhanded,” said Walton. “There is not one communication.”
According to the November budget report, CCSF’s Chancellor Mark Rocha’s office, “removed approximately 225 credit sections and 63 non-credit sections from the Spring 2020 schedule, as well as reduced the summer class schedule by 25 percent, in an effort to curtail a projected $13 million budget deficit for the 2019-2020 fiscal year.”
Supervisor Walton is in the midst of sponsoring Ordinance 191261, a $2.7 million proposal that would support class reinstatement. The funds will come from the current fiscal year’s budget reserves.
Evette Davis, a spokesperson for CCSF, stated that the “. . . decision was made to allow students to complete all of their coursework at a single location, rather than having to travel to multiple locations across The City . . .This makes it easier for students to complete their degrees.”
Davis added that CCSF, “regrets not communicating this information to its stakeholders sooner.”
The proposal was successful during its first Board of Supervisors Committee appearance on Tuesday, January 28 with a 7-4 vote. The second reading will be next week, and the legislation will go on to the mayor’s desk if it receives enough votes in favor of the proposal.
