The Ventura County Community College Board of Trustees recently voted to terminate more than 100 faculty positions, eliminate academic programs and shut the doors of all cafeterias to balance next year’s shrinking budget.

The cuts will seriously affect students, many of whom use community colleges as a gateway to better opportunities.

Moorpark College alone, the largest of the three district colleges, serves more than 15,000 students. But while some pupils at Ventura and Oxnard colleges formally protested the cuts last week, Moorpark students stayed in class.

"March 8 was a dark day for educators in Ventura County," said Harry Korn, president of the American Federation of Teachers Union for the local colleges.

Larry Miller, Ventura County College District board member who taught biology at Moorpark College for 33 years, said the decisions were very difficult to make. He was the only trustee who voted against the cuts as proposed.

Miller said there are different paths to fiscal stability and the decision to slash programs and jobs was made too quickly without faculty input. The college administrators, and the district office made all the decisions, he said.

The $5-million shortfall could have been addressed differently, he said. The teacher’s union was willing to give up a salary increase, saving $2 million, and other groups may have agreed to do the same, saving another $1 million. The district could have saved $1 million with upcoming retirements, and another $1 million could have been taken from the reserves, said Miller. "That’s what reserves are for."

With the continuing cuts, colleges are caught in a vicious cycle, offering fewer programs and attracting fewer students, meaning less money from the state.

Currently, the annual per-student state funding for K-12 is about $7,000 per year, the Cal State University system gets about $8,000 per student, and UC system about $14,000 per student, according to Miller. Community colleges only get about $4,000 per student, and the problem is compounded by the fact that many who attend community colleges do so on a part-time basis.

The proposed cuts will affect faculty and students at Moorpark College for years to come, said Clint Harper, a Moorpark City Council member who teaches physics, astronomy and physical science at Moorpark College.

Moorpark College’s share of the projected $5-million shortfall for 2005-06 is about 40 percent of the total losses for the county college system.

Academic cuts at Moorpark College will amount to more than $1 million.

Classified employees will also be affected as food services on campus are closed down and counseling is cut. Support for the national champion forensics team at Moorpark will also be impacted, Harper said.

Intercollegiate athletics are essentially untouched, said Harper. He said that although a comprehensive physical education program is important, supporting intercollegiate athletics at the expense of academic, vocational education, and student services is not the way to go.

The cafeteria closures will also have an impact on college life. Most of the students who attend community colleges work, and in the midst of a hectic day, the cafeteria offers a place where students can gather, connect and eat.

Budget decisions must be made in two months.