Community colleges will receive less funding in the state’s updated budget, El Camino College officials said at the Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, May 27, in the Kenneth A. Brown Board Room.
Under Governor Gavin Newsom’s May Revision, the annual update to the January Proposed Budget, there is reduced funding for community colleges under Proposition 98, and a Transitional Kindergarten shift diverging funding away from two-year colleges.
$492.4 million funding from Proposition 98 toward California Community Colleges has been discarded, according to supplemental information from the presentation.
Loïc Audusseau, interim vice president of Administrative Services, presented on the state’s $12 billion budget shortfall.
“Community colleges, including El Camino, will receive a smaller share in 2025-26 [year] than previously projected,” Audusseau said.
California schools and community colleges will suffer from a $4.6 billion reduction in funding from Proposition 98.
Proposition 98 is a state constitutional amendment that guarantees minimum funding amounts for K-14 education, calculated using three different tests, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Proposition 98 funding this year has been shifted in favor of K-12 education, leaving out community colleges.
“The reallocation reflects a structural change in how the state prioritizes early education funding, which now favors K-12 systems over [California Community Colleges],” Audusseau said.
“Statewide there’s going to be a lot of issues with the community college system and obviously El Camino is going to face that,” Wesley Marshall, Associated Students Organization Student Trustee, said.
Primary causes for the state’s deficit include the Cost of Living Adjustment being reduced from 2.43% to 2.3%, federal tariffs, Medi-Cal cost overruns and Los Angeles fires-related emergency responses.
Audusseau explained the budget’s impact to El Camino College and recommended next steps, including reforecasting its multi-year budget, monitoring enrollment and preparing for deferred funding payments from 2025-26 to 2026-27.
The El Camino Community College District is currently facing a budget deficit of $19 million for the 2024-2025 fiscal year, according to an April 24 Planning and Budget Committee meeting presentation.
“I think we’re doing a good job right now of resolving this deficit. I think we’re prepared to face any more cuts in the future and going forward, I think our college will be more ready for anything like that,” Marshall said.
Ricky Gonzalez, Student Development Office director, shared optimism regarding the budget challenges.
“I think there are a lot of moving pieces, but I think it’s an opportunity for us to reimagine how we work with our students, how we work within our offices and it’s an opportunity to collaborate across campus,” Gonzalez said.
