By Freddy Monares
Updated: Oct. 30 7:32 p.m.
Administrators within the Los Angeles Community College District’s Office are requesting an increase of $2 million from the 2013-14 final budget in order to fund 13 positions at the office.
According to Faculty Co-chair of the East Los Angeles College Shared Governance Council Jeffrey Hernandez, the Board of Trustees evaded the process of presenting the request to the District Budget Committee and some positions had already been approved by the time the committee heard the news.
Hernandez said that a ruckus at DBC got back to board members, because process wasn’t followed, and the board was then interested in the DBC’s views on these positions.
“These all seem like valuable positions, nearly all of them. On the down side, a $2 million increase in the district office’s budget means the money comes from the colleges,” Hernandez said.
Hernandez presented the matters on Monday to the council for reactions to take back to the DBC.
“We already have a district office that has a budget more sizable than two of the colleges in the district, despite the fact that the district’s office doesn’t educate a single student. This would be $2 million more, which might actually give them a larger budget than three of the colleges in the district,” said ESGC faculty member Steve Wardinski.
“I would urge us to strongly protest against adding yet $2 million more to an entity that doesn’t actually assist in the education of students,” Wardinski said.
The district plans to add new positions ranging from Capital Outlay Accounting Manager for the Chief Financial Officer’s Office to a Data Communications Specialist for Information Technology with the $2 million the district is requesting.
The final 2013-14 budget for the LACCD totals $3.19 billion. This includes $2.12 billion from Proposition A, AA and Measure J Bonds in the Building Fund.
ELAC will receive $98.23 million for the 2013-14 school year. This is $14.72 million more than our current fiscal year and 5.89 million more than the 2011-12 fiscal year.
District-wide, the budget is up from the 2012-13 budget by $2.01 billion and $1.88 billion from the 2011-12 budget.
According to the final budget report by the Office of the Chancellor, the state’s economy is slowly recovering and has generated significant revenue along with the passage of Proposition 30 in November 2012. This has produced increased funding for the 2014 Fiscal Year.
This budget will enable the district to increase class sections for student access and enrollment growth as well as restoring student support programs and services. The district is planning an enrollment growth target of 3.63 percent, two percent above the state funded growth cap of 1.63 percent.
Hernandez will take the council’s reactions to the DBC in order to make proper recommendations to Interim Chancellor of the LACCD Adriana Barrera,Ph.D., on approving the LACCD’s positions.