Transcripts For SFGTV Special Joint City School District City College Select Committee 20200209

>> thank you, mr. clark. will you please call the roll call? [roll call] we have a quorum. >> thank you. please call the first item. >> item one is a hearing on how the cuts of over 300 classes will affect low income in communities of color and to take -- in high school students who take city college of san francisco classes to meet college and requirements, and any proposed cuts need to be heard by the students in communities most impacted. >> thank you, mr. clerk. this is a hearing that was called by supervisor walton. i will turn it over to you to make an introductory remarks. you can feel free to run the hearing. >> thank you. first i want to thank all of my colleagues on the board of education and also city college trustees, as well as faculty from city college for coming out to have this important conversation. there is a rally going on outside to talk about some of the concerns about the college, so i'm pretty sure we will have a bigger crowd joining us in a minute, but i do want to open up with a statement. on december 10th, i, along with supervisors fewer, haney, mar, and preston introduced his supplemental budget appropriation ordinance for $2.7 million to help restore the 300 city college classes, for the spring 2020 semester. this item was heard for a first reading at the board this past tuesday and past 7-4. on january 10th, supervisor mar and i called a hearing to discuss the impacts of these class cuts on our low-income community, our communities of color, our high school students, seniors, and everyone else negatively affected by these devastating cuts. i requested that city college administration, as well as educators at the college and leadership who represent our city college to report on this issue at this hearing. however, there were conflicts in the schedule and so we were not able to have the hearing, but we did hear public comment and testimony from some of the public. we have reconvened today for special meeting of this committee to hold this hearing. the purpose of the hearing is two fold. first, to discuss the current situation. city college class cuts for the spring 2020 semester, these decisions were made without proper community input and the way city college handled the situation has brought us to where we are today. the city needs to step up to work to provide the resources to support our most vulnerable populations who would be in our disproportionately -- would be and are disproportionately impacted by these cuts. we do deserve to know why these cut classes were chosen, how these cuts will impact our students. we need to make sure high school seniors are still able to take classes needed for graduation or college enrolment. we need to make sure our workforce is able to complete certification training for job requirements. we need to make sure we are not cutting classes that serve as job requirements for our community members, and we need to make sure our senior community is able to canoe to take classes that provide much-needed stimulation and enhance learning opportunities. we also need to make sure our conversations focus on how these class cuts affect all populations of students. and not put groups of students against each other because city college has the responsibility to serve everyone. second, i would like to discuss how these decisions are made in general. in order to avoid this type of crisis from happening again, it is our responsibility to take a hard look at the process city college goes through to arrive at decisions like these and make sure decisions are made equitably and with proper community input. we understand we need to have a deeper level of discussion about how the city can support city college for the long term, but we also want to understand why we're here in this situation today. we did try to engage in conversations with city college college to get a better understanding of budget needs, but staff of the budget and legislative analyst has reported they received no response from city college when trying to have that discussion. with limited information, i proposed to reinstate classes cut and begin conversations on how we can support the college. finally, this week it was brought to my attention that to know classes will be offered at the southeast community college. i have had conversations with city college staff about bombs, i have had conversations about staff about class cuts in general and one time -- not one time was a brought my attention they were cutting every single class at the campus. and it only got a response when i heard about it from an anonymous tip and reached out to the dean who told me and informed me that that was indeed true. not one class offered at the southeast campus. while the former dean got promoted to vice chancellor, he knew these classes were cut and did not have one conversation with me, the commission at the southeast community facility, about these classes being cut. city college currently leases up most of the spaces. there are so may nonprofits, so many programs -- programs and events that have not been able to help. and yet, there were no classes. i don't want to insinuate why you would lease up all the space and not hold classes. maybe because you're profiting from subleases, maybe because there is some selfish reason why you don't want to allow community to use the space but if you cut every class and you don't inform us while we have a facility that is sitting there empty, that is problematic, i was told recently by campus staff that city build may not happen at the sight. as a supervisor for district 10 representing the neighborhood, when a large african-american population, this is a big concern. historically, his campuses came into these neighborhoods to serve a community that did not previously have access to the college. however, as the years have passed. the offerings and the commitment to these neighborhoods have become smaller and smaller without engagement. at a time when we need to be embracing our african-american community members, our students of color, our seniors, it's worrying to see the college taking these actions. so today we would like to introduce and hear from the faculty and leadership of city college who will present, as well as we will invite up a ft to come and present. then we will have public comment for two minutes and we will allow some students from the associated students association to be the first people to come up and speak and with that said, i would like to call up who is representing city college this morning. thank you for being here. >> good morning. i am the associated vice chancellor of the city college of san francisco. i want to thank you for the opportunity to be able to share data from the college in regards to some of the questions and concerns, and the challenges that we face at the college. we have provided data to the board and the trustees as to, first of all, our mission statement. our mission statement at city college of san francisco is to build and fill achievement gaps. and how do we fill achievement gaps? at the college we focus on students transferring, we focus on the students receiving their associate degrees, and refocus on students that are receiving certificates and we also have a great emphasis on basic skills that leads up to the students of transferring to the universities and the state system. city college, as many of you may know, we have several locations. our ocean campus is our largest campus. our airport canvas -- campus, we have a aviation program. we have chinatown and our north beach center which we offer esl as one of our main problem -- programs. we also have civic centre english as a second language and general education. we have our downtown center where we offer our culinary and our business program. we have the evans center center where we offer career technical educational courses at fort mason and we offer our liberal arts classes. and our mission center mission center we have our job development which has a large footprint, along with our english as a second language. at john adams is our healthcare, and at the southeast center, in the past we offered general education classes, esl classes, and some classes in the certified nursing area. so the impact of the schedule reduction. the spring 2020 schedule reduction is designed to minimize the impact of the mission of the student attainment to transfer, to receive their degrees, certificates, and to increase their basic skills. so we do have a major investment and all throughout our communities. at the present time, we are in conversation with the p.u.c. to build a new facility in the bayview hunters point at 1550 evans area location. we are in partnership with city build at 1400 evans and we are also in discussion on how to expand the city build program at city college of san francisco. we do have, we recently have a working adult program that has been -- that is located in chinatown and the mission center i am very proud to share with you our student success rate. for the 2016 and 17 year, students who completed transfer level english and math rose by 31%. students who earned their associate degrees to transfer to these rose by 67%. and students who earned their workforce certificates and career technical education rose by 71%. we do have several major construction programs that we have started this year. and one of them i'm very proud to say that i was part of, is the evans center. we will renovate and expand the evans center at 1400. we began that work and we are going to add additional programs with the expansion of the evans center. i would be remiss if i did not introduce my colleague. we have dean cahill, the dean of admission, dean who is also the current dean at the evans center , dr. ken so who is the dean of liberal arts, and dean a year who is the dean of social services, behavioral sciences, ethics studies and social justice, and dean david g. who is our dean of -- [indiscernible] -- so we are here to basically have a conversation of some of the things that you may have heard and clear up and discuss where we are at the college to the best of our ability. >> thank you. before i open up for questions, i just want to make sure, this is all you are presenting today? because we reached out to your office and to the college to specifically talk about the impacts of class cuts on students of color, students with disabilities, seniors, and there is no data or information in this report that discusses any of that. so either you don't care about what we asked for or this is the best you can do as vice chancellor of the institution from a reporting standpoint. i'm interested to know why you did not respond to the purpose of the hearing in your report. >> no one responded to me. >> i can show you e-mails. the agenda is posted publicly on what this hearing is about. i'm trying to understand why nothing in your presentation addresses any of that. >> this report was a joint effort and i'm going to refer to some of my colleagues. >> who is, as this structure is set up, who is the ranking highest official here for the hearing right now? >> i am. >> who are you going to refer to to answer those questions? >> my colleagues that helped prepare this presentation. >> i see supervisor viewer has some questions. >> yes. thank you. i wanted to ask because i also am not seeing any data and i actually expected to see some data here. approximately how many students are enrolled at city college now >> 63,000. >> and what is the racial breakdown of those students? >> i do not have that data at this time. >> it is impossible -- >> we didn't provide it. >> sir, is not -- it's not possible to have a conversation about closing the achievement gap if we don't even know what the racial demographic of the city college of san francisco is quite frankly, the questions i have all our about related to data. for example,, when we look together at the last page of student success and completion outcomes for african-american and latino students, i would love to see the date is split between african-americans and latinos students and when you say it is up 31%, one of the actual numbers? what are the numbers of up 67%, and show me an analysis of asian and white students and also, african-american separate and latino separate and when they transfer, what degrees today transfer with. do we follow the students at all about success, also, what are they getting degrees in? i would love that number by race and i would love that number about the associate degree for transfer and what is the average g.p.a. of these the students by race, also, students incomplete transfer level with english and math in the first year and how much more math do they take? what are those workforce certificates? are they a pathway to a living wage job, also, what new programs are at the evans center what are we doing to actually engage african-americans and latinos into the city college family to encourage them? what are the supports by race? so when i don't have any data by race, quite frankly, you can't close the gap because you don't know what the gap is. i think it is imperative that we know that if we are going to close a racial achievement gap, then i think it is imperative we have the numbers to compare to see where the gap is and how to concentrate on the gap. so i wasn't in the conversations about what would be requested at this hearing, but without any data information, it's really hard to actually look how we close the gap if we don't know what the gap is. so i appreciate you coming today and perhaps city college -- trustees will have more insight onto this, but i think today we would see some hard data around what the gap is and what they the gap at city college has been -- what city college administration has identified as what you will be working on. anyway, i actually don't know where to go from here because this presentation, if you don't have the numbers, it is very, very difficult to talk about closing the gap because we don't even know how big the gap is or where the gaps are. >> commissioner collins? >> thank you. i am echoing supervisor walton and fewer. there is only one page with any data on it and it is not data over time, it is data from two years ago and i don't have any information. my understanding, and i did specifically, at the last meeting, when we were talking about this presentation, i made the request we would get data, demographic data by group of communities that are impacted by this decision to cancel classes. the fact that you have listed southeast center as a location, and yet there are no classes feels, to be honest, very disrespectful and disingenuous because the point is if there is no classes, then what is the point of having a location? this whole meeting was for us to discuss access to course work, not access to buildings. so having a list of locations, i would also expect to see if you are closing at certain locations , then i would want to understand which communities are accessing different locations because certain locations are located -- are accessed by various communities. i want to see who is taking classes, what kinds of communities we are accessing different locations, and then how that access is changed by closing locations specifically. really basic data. i don't know if you are taking notes on any of this because -- >> we are. >> -- but to see numbers is something i would like to see. i would like to see numbers by group. i would like to see numbers over time, i would like to see numbers by location, and those groups include race, those groups include -- we have different demographics of coursework for students in high school versus students at the general college, and students, older adults that are taking coursework. those are -- and if you have ability, that is also a group that i would like to see, and i am hearing from supervisor walton there -- the whole point of this was to understand how decisions were made. i don't see any of that information as well. how are you making decisions, how are you making decisions, it says here no impact. i don't understand how you are showing me that there is no impact because you haven't shown you what's changed. i would need to see data on what it was like before and what it's like now that you have made changes and what your theory of action is or how did you arrive at those decisions and how do you determine there has been no impact? >> thank you. we will provide you with that data. >> i am dean jill you, i wanted to clarify that my school, which includes social sciences, behavioral sciences, ethnic studies in social justice will be offering three classes at southeast that will begin on march 16th. these are half semester lane classes and we found that it is much more successful if we start the classes later in the semester because it gives the college and the community more time to recruit students. we have there are four classes. three are in my school and one is in the math department, so we are planning to offer classes there this semester. i also wanted to add that one of the reasons that we don't have some of the data points that has been requested is the focus is on the impact of the last round of course, reduction and since the reductions are affecting this semester, it's too soon to be able to collect that data. however,, it is our understanding that of the underrepresented groups, there has been no significant impact on enrolment, but -- >> i'm sorry, i want to cut in. you have data on who has been going to courses that you have been offering and you can provide that data. it just feels really disrespectful. there's just a lot of us here. i'm spending my time here, all these folks are here, and you know the courses you offer, you have a history of that information. and may shift from year-to-year, but, you know, there's nothing here. there is no data at all here. so to say it has no impact, -- [simultaneous talking] in this presentation it says there is no impact on some of these things. i have no information. >> we will get you the information that is being requested. >> before i call on president williams, i just want everyone presenting to know i wasn't born yesterday. i posted about the late start classes, but please don't sit up here and patronize us and asked like this was part of some plan that you already knew was going to be in place because i have to believe, if that was the case, you would have said, supervisor walton, southeast community, we're cutting all the classes at southeast, however, we are going to have late start classes. we are doing this because we will give you an opportunity to enrolled. please do not insult our intelligence like that. or this will be a different type of hearing. president williams? >> thank you, chair walton. i just want to first and foremost apologize for the lack of data in this presentation and we will definitely be working with our administration to provide all the information that has been requested and thank you for your patience. we will get that data to you. >> trustee randolph? >> to echo what our president said, i have to say i i'm very disappointed to sit here. i wanted to thank the committee for giving us additional weeks to prepare for this because we were not ready on the original hearing date when i was out of town, unfortunately, and we said we needed more time because it was the start of the semester to prepare and make a case. it's not disappointing. maybe i am -- it is trustee randolph and president williams were the highest ranking officers. we are not giving the presentation, but we are representing the college and it's not disappointing because the presentation is very short and doesn't have a lot of information, it is disappointing because we do have a lot of data and a lot of information that we could be sharing here that shows the success and the makeup of our college. we have a report that you can easily get on our website from september 2019 from our amazing office of research and planning what shows that about seven-point 3% of our credit students are black and african-american. twenty-eight% of our students are asian-american and five-point 7% are filipino and filipina. twenty-five% are latin x. zero-point 7% of pacific islanders and in our noncredit, it's even more diverse. we are almost 40% of our students who are asian. 30% of our students are latin x. it goes into overall headcount, it goes into completion rates, success rates, graduation rates. there are seven or eight in-depth reports from the last several months that show the work that our staff is doing and the work that our faculty is doing and the work that our people are doing to make sure our students are successful. there was also reports that we could be sharing with you today about our financial situation at city college of san francisco. similar to what the school district is going through and other community colleges are going through in the bay area bay area. we are at the end of our ropes. we are out of money. and the reason is, one, we took a huge hit through the accreditation crisis where our and what -- enrolment dropped by over 50%. enrolment makes up a huge amount of funding that we can use an revenue that we can use to offer programs and services to our students. we had a huge discussion just last week at our board meeting about an independent audit reports that we received that basically tells us that we already are spending under our 5% reserve and that we are close to another state takeover. that we, as a community, need to have a discussion about what the future of city college looks like and how we, together, collaboratively with you all here at the board of supervisors and the school district was facing similar financial issues, and as a city, can come together to save and protect the jewel that we have as the community college here in san francisco when other entities around the state in the country do not believe in this model anymore. they don't believe that adult learning classes are important. they don't believe that lifelong learning classes are important. these are existential discussions that we need to have , but they need to be rooted and grounded in information and data that we have because you and all your staff members and the dean and everybody at city college, the faculty work very hard every single day to make the reports and the data available that we have currently on our website. so it is very deeply disappointing, i'm not attacking anyone from staff up here, that we are not sharing what we are doing. what we are doing well, and what we are not doing well because in order to have an honest conversation here today and in the future, we need to talk about what we're doing well and what we are not doing well. what we are not doing well is communicating. and you see right here prime example of how we are not communicating all the things that we should be doing at city college and we are not doing at city college. so i am sorry that all of you came here to have this conversation, but i think it is an important conversation that we will be having at the board of trustees. we have a retreat to talk about our finances and plans forward. just a today it was announced that the community college across the bay was put on probation by the state of california and the accreditation agency because they are not following the financial path and they're not following the financial structures and they are not making, you know, the changes that the college needs to make. a similar situation that we are in. it is deeply troubling, just like president williams, i would like to apologize because it's so sad because we do have all the information that all of you have asked for and would like to see and we should be sharing with all of you here today. >> thank you, trustee randolph. trustee haney is next. his button doesn't work. >> he has made me a trustee. >> supervisor haney? >> it's one of these titles that i haven't had on the commission. i want to thank the comments of our trustees. i am also surprised by what has been presented. the title of the hearing, the impacts of class cuts at city college of san francisco to low income and community of color in high school students, it seems pretty clear to me what we wanted to hear about and to have more data on that and have a deeper understanding and we are not just doing this because we want to have a big hearing and make a show, there have been hundreds, maybe thousands of people who have contacted us, all of us in each of our respective bodies about deep concerns about these changes and these cats and many of them are here in the chamber today, and many were not able to be here because they're working or in classes and, you know, for us to not have the information in front of us to be able to make the best decisions for all of those people and to represent them effectively, is deeply problematic and concerning to us and this is the second time that we have gathered here to have this conversation and again, we are not given what we need to do this. we should have some information, and i was at -- formally at a school board member and we would ask for this sort of data. do you have dated -- obviously there is a set of classes that were cut. do you have demographic data? and i think commissioner collins touched on this. do you have data of demographic data of who was in those courses in past years? that would have told us something. i recognize that if a course is gone now, you can't say who would have been in that course, but one of the things that would have been good for us to have is the demographic data from those courses from last year. >> we do have that data. >> you do have that data? that would have been and then i think the question around, as supervisor in walton brought up, the campuses. and if there are certain cuts or reductions at certain campuses, what are the demographic data from those campuses that will tell us, you know, obviously with the impact is there? so without that data, we don't know the answers to those questions and we can't make policy decisions accordingly. i also think this is obviously in the context of hearings from the budget committee. the budget chair is here and the full board of supervisors is here. $2.7 million past. i understand the concern about the funding, and here we are the board of supervisors and we are trying to give you money, we're trying to help with this. we are trying to find ways with the support of supervisors and the support of others to help solve this problem. if you recognize they're having negative impacts, we need to know what those are and be honest about those because we want to help solve these issues with you, not because we want to beat you up and say this is the wrong thing to do. instead, it feels like we're not getting the full story about why this is happening and what the real impacts are. instead, it is like nothing his really wrong and this is fine and we will not show you data that shows things that are distressing. if it was just rest to be here to tell you, you are not doing the right thing and all of that, then i would understand why you would want to have that conversation. we are trying to help. we are trying to be responsive to the people who have had deep concerns about what is happening at the college right now and we, as city leaders, a school district leaders who rely on the college and students rely on the college, and of course,, in partnership with the trustees, we want to have your back. if you are making it hard for us to have your back, that is raising a lot of other questions for a lot of people in the community as to why we are being blocked from having that opportunity. i understand there is data that is not here that you have and we would like to see that, but we also want to be given the opportunity to understand what is happening so we can step in and support. this impacts our constituents. these are your students and your faculty, but these are residents that we represent. >> thank you. >> i will let commissioner speak and when i will call on you, commissioner collins. >> thank you. i don't know if you guys caught it, with the school district in san francisco, we say latin x., we don't say latino. that is the first thing that popped up for me. here we go again. we say latin x. and law not latino. i'm not sure how you guys go about that in your institution. and also for us, we do acknowledge that we are working through our finances. it is important for us as schoolboard commissioners how we handle our staff and students and how we deliver these messages so the feedback that i'm getting from staff and students that attend this, and i am an alumni, i went there, i really appreciate the city college of san francisco. things are abrupt. things are coming out of the blue. it's really important for me. if you will go through something , and i acknowledge he might have some issues, how did you properly, and respectful way , communicate that and work with your staff to be able to help people walk along whatever you guys have shown them? and then, for me too with the presentation, again, i have more questions, you know, and you don't want me to start making the assumptions because, in the back of my head, without all the data, i've all kinds of questions going on in my head. if i start making up questions, i can go anywhere. for me, right now, what are you guys really trying to do? you guys trying to shut down the school? i don't know. i can't really respond to that because i don't have the data to say it is not what they are trying to do. so what is really going on? and also, i know you guys are here and i will ask you these questions in terms of preparation, so i just want to hear from you guys. why are you cutting classes, what is your plan, what is going on? >> are you asking. >> yeah, i am asking. >> the college is moving forward we are educating our students. we are working to close achievement gaps. we do have challenges with our budget. we're looking at our scheduling and we are trying to be productive -- productive in our communities and educate those that come to city college so we meet our mission statement and that is to get the transfer or receive a certificate. >> supervisor fewer? >> thank you. thank you to the trustees for the explanation. and just for the comments also. i thank you are looking at three supervisors that once served on the san francisco board of education and i recall being on this committee in that position when i was a commissioner and our staff not being prepared adequately to communicate what was needed to actually have a conversation for the joint select committee. i wanted to say to trustees that i had to actually go to the people that are giving the presentations and step-by-step show them what had -- what is needed in a presentation like this. many times, people from city college, but also sfusd are not used to giving these types of presentations at city hall. we are used to getting them, but they are not used to producing them and the kind of information that was helpful and necessary to have the conversation. i wanted to say that. i also want to say this, is that , yes, i am dying for more data because i think what it does is it builds up a case also for us that, here at the sitting county of san francisco, to allocate funds to actually support the city college institution. we responded to the case of the crisis of underfunding of education in our state and the city and county of san francisco and they generously give tens of millions of dollars a year to keep the system afloat. and during a time, we would not have been able to operate if we did not have a rainy day fund when we had to send out 503 layoff notices. so i think part of the conversation is not to really cap -- chastised the councillor or the board of trustees on how the process went, although we think it could have been a better process, but that the fact that the sitting county of san francisco needs to be introduced to the idea that city colleges are also our responsibility, it has been, as we heard today, the lifeline and the safety net for those that actually -- we leave behind our sfusd education system. it's a safety net and it is also an answer to our unhoused population. it's an opportunity for people to live long, full lives being lifelong learners and i think we , at the city and county of san francisco, have put money towards free city college, but that is not -- that is for the residents of san francisco. it's not for the city college. so i think part of this conversation about the $2.7 million, it will not do it. it takes a constant commitment, what it takes a much bigger commitments than that and also i think it takes a coming together of the city and county of san francisco to look at city college as a viable resource and what would we be without city college? that is very frightening. so we have to step up to the plate. san francisco is a 12 billion-dollar budget. i know that they say that revenues are decreasing, but i think that when we look at what city college brings to so many residents of san francisco, i think it's it is time that we actually stepped up our commitment to this education, that i know the state of california and all over the united states is seeing and wanting to eliminate a community college model and they want to go more toward a junior college model. i think san francisco has depended on city college to be that community college. i guess what i'm saying is, yes, i would love more data. i would love to see where the gaps are. those people that we have not educated well, the ones that we also, as a system have failed. this is a safety net. it is also a wake-up call for the city and county of san francisco. this is also our responsibility and what can we do, we don't know the gaps we don't know the processes are and how we can help. we can also get a picture of it and we are just guessing. when we are talking about millions and millions of dollars , guessing doesn't do it. we really need hard data so we can say that if we don't fund this, this is who is going to be hurt. and for myself, personally, through a racial lens, and that is the most important for me. i want to thank you. i think this is the start of a much larger conversation. i think this is what happens that when we as a state, this is the largest economy in the world and when we don't adequately fund our public education systems, this is exactly what happens and we are here today, sort of having discussions amongst each other and tried to figure this out, but quite frankly, it is the responsibility of our state too. i think there are things we can do at the ballot this november that could help. i also think that it's time sitting county of san francisco stepped up and looked at city college as a real partner in solving some of the issues that we have and especially when we look at our african-american population trying to survive here in san francisco, and also we look at the disproportionate amount of our unhoused people, african-americans having a disproportionate population of our unhoused people, it is imperative that these types of institutions that can deliver our -- opportunity and can open doors were opportunity to be self sustaining, that we support these systems. yes, i would love this data. i am ready for the data as trustee randolph is rambling off , and more data points come to my mind of what i would like to see and what i would like to learn more about. it's disappointing and, then perhaps, the trustee is, if i maybe so bold, needs to step in and give more guidance as to what is needed in these types of presentations. thank you. >> commissioner collins? >> i just want to echo comments that have already been made. again i appreciate trustee randolph and president williams' comments as well. also, because this is so important, i think it has been stated that this is part of the public trust and we all need to make sure that city college is successful and i am a product of public education. my parents our product as growing up poor, they are a product of public education and on all levels. this is a really important part of that, but through that time, just seeing that there are so many negative narratives about public education, seeking to tear it down, when we don't have information, it allows those narratives to take hold which is something the commissioner attested to. and when you, you know, -- we need more money for education at all levels and when we don't give information to the public about what the actual costs and challenges are in meeting our vision, and allows folks to create narratives that are not true and it allows them to derive the work and undermine undermined those institutions. it is imperative for us to share how we are doing in a transparent way and it is also imperative for us to share how we make decisions. so the communication piece is also very important to me in a future presentation. i would like to see the data. i would like to see how you are making decisions, but it also like to see how you are communicating that, not only to us, but most importantly, to the folks that work in city college college and also to the folks for the students that rely on city college and how are they involved in decision-making and how are they informed about what is coming up so that they can be partners in supporting the work because we are all partners in this work. we all want to support it, but they are most impacted so they should be most closely involved in how you continue to do the work. >> thank you, supervisor. we will provide that data. >> trustee randolph? >> yes. the reason why i am disappointed is it's like when you know the quality and the work that our dean's and our staff and our faculty do at the college. because we get the report at our board meetings that are in-depth , that are exceptional, that are painting the picture of the work that we are doing and to the diverse group of students that we are serving. the data is there. i know that all of them are exceptional people that can present the data and present the work that day -- the work they do on a daily basis and, you know, the board is in a very difficult role because we have a responsibility to the larger college that is a fiduciary duty and the duty that we have to the college and to the government -- governance of the college often times conflicts with our own values, with our own thoughts about what public education should look like in san francisco or in the united states. it directly competes with other interests that are more powerful than the board of trustees at city college of san francisco that is more resourced than the board of trustees at the city college of san francisco. and our main responsibility, my responsibility that i take very seriously at the college is to make sure that we are around for the next 130 years. and over the last several years, we were so lucky to have the support of the city of san francisco, through various taxes , and thanks to senator mar leno, we received hundreds of millions of dollars from the state of california thursday playstation funding to make sure that we don't close the college and two, we continue to be able to offer classes and resources to make sure that we have a very successful student body that our faculty and our class staff get the races that they deserve and they have. and that we continue to make sure that we have a community college here in san francisco. but the stabilization funding has ended. the new funding formula is coming to san francisco. i was in sacramento this week talking to our state legislators and to the state of california about the harm that it is doing to our college and to our community, but there's no more funding coming from the state. they have had enough with city college of san francisco and giving us money. that is a fact. the fact is also that, you know, the state is moving to a model where, you know, completion rates and transfer rates and certification programs are the priority. we can all argue whether that is a good idea or not. i think, i personally agree and i think the board has had that discussion in the past that we have a responsibility to make sure that our students graduate and transit -- transfer to universities. as a former student of color who moved to this country at 16, i know personally the benefits of public education. [please stand by] >> there's so much data of all the good work that we're doing, despite all the financial challenges, and despite all the help. there's this, you know, this thought and understanding that free city was going to solve everything. free city is not revenue generating. free city, yes, we're getting 50 million, 20 million from the city, it's just who's attending at city college. there's a lot of challenges going on. i agree there needs to be more communication and collaboration across the board. that is something i think that we and the board are committed to, and i know that this is just the beginning of a lot of good collaboration and partnerships, and that we are going to be talking about cheps, the community higher education fund. i know there's going to be a lot of discussion and a lot of ways for us to work together to ensure that at least we as a city believe in public higher education. >> president president walton? >> i think it's unfortunate that as trustee randolph mentioned, that we don't have that data here today, but that data exists, and we're going to make sure that everybody on this committee receives that information. and we want to make sure benefits from this trust. this is part of the city family, and so any way that we can figure this out together, we want to do that, and i do want to make this crystal clear that we want to partner with the city and county of san francisco. so i hope we can continue to dive into this and continue to have the conversation because it is so critical what we have right now, and trustee randolph highlighted what we are facing. we are not getting anymore funding from the state. we have lived above our means for a period of time in san francisco, but we need to face the fiscal realities that we're living with at this time, and we really need the partnership with the city to get there to be able to provide that level of support that san francisco wants. they want the enrichment, we want the live long -- lifelong learning, and the beauty and breadth of that. it's just how are we going to get there. we have opportunities with the chep, and also this partnership with the city, so let's do it. i think it's possible. >> supervisor walton: thank you, president williams. and the first thing i want city college administration to know is we are not your enemy. we want to figure out how we can come together as a city. this body was not in place for a while, and this is an important space that exists for all of us to come together so we can work together on solutions that quite frankly affect all of us, whether it be with city as a whole. we had to fight to get this committee reinstated, and to come here without certain information handicaps us as a committee to be able to work together to problem solve to help the college. i think it's embarrassing and shameful that the chancellor would let you walk in here and take hits for the college and not be here as that person to do that. so i don't want you to think that this is necessarily directed towards you the as members of the college administration with the exception of the fact that i am very frustrated that you and i have personally had conversations, and i did not know about what was happening at southeast, but i don't think it's fair that you have to take these hits without that administrative leadership coming here. and i do just want to touch on what's at stake. as we talk about chep, as we talk about coming together to provide revenue for the college from the city, it is hard for us to make a case without data and information. we have colleagues that we have to push for to support what we need to do to help the college, we have a public outthere that needs to know what's going on out there with the college, so that stuff is important and it's vital. it's hard for me to believe that i know because you generate reports like this, that you have information and data like this, that you would come in here without that information accidentally. and so i just hope that we understand what's at stake for getting everyone to rally around the college. we need information to come up with strategies to address the issues that exist. so i'm -- i'm going to gold off on my questions. i had a series of questions. i'm going to hold off and let jennifer worley from a.f.t. 2121 come up. i don't know if you had anything to say before she presents? >> i did, supervisor walton. i will let you know that we will provide the data that's been requesting, and i'm requesting of you, supervisor walton, because when you send your e-mails, i've been in my role for about a month, but i'm not making any excuses. i was not aware that the board wanted this type of data. had we been aware, myself and all of the administrators, we would have provided that today, so i'm asking the board of supervisors for another opportunity to present that data. >> supervisor walton: well, i definitely appreciate your statements and comments, but as trustee randolph also mentioned earlier, this was the second time that hearing was scheduled. and so you know, we didn't just throw this at you recently, and maybe it's not your fault that we don't have that information, but certainly, someone from the college nknew exactly what we were looking for, and it wasn't clearly communicated. even if it wasn't communicated a couple of weeks ago, it was clearly communicated over the course of the last couple of weeks. >> i appreciate that, supervisor walton, and we will provide that data. >> supervisor walton: all right. now we'll hear from jennifer worley, the president of a.f.t. 2121. >> thank you. good morning, supervisors and trustees. thank you for having us here to give testimony about the class cuts at city college. i wanted to start with a -- just a basic overview of the new state funding formula. folks have talked about that a little bit, and i just wanted to clarify a bit about that funding formula and give an overview of how that's impacted city college, and then i want to turn it over to dr. coates to talk about our impact in particular on our african american studies program of these funding reductions. so just a quick overview, there's a new funding formula that's coming down from the state of california that rather than funding community colleges based on -- just on enrollment, to full-time equivalent students, also termed f.t.s., they're moving towards funding community college 70% based on enrollment, but there's also -- 30% is going to be based on other factors, some of those work well for city college and some have not. if we serve many low-income students, we will be funded more, and that's a rubrick under which city college funding wise does well because we do serve many low-income students. but one of the other rubricks is what's called the student success element of this funding formula. and just to be clear, the funding formula defines student success as graduation, essentially, funding that takes students towards graduation. and we share the goal of improving our graduation rates, particularly closing the achievement gap for our students of color. that's an important goal, and we share that, but when funding is reduced for anything that doesn't pursue that goal, what we're being pushed towards at the state level is becoming a junior college rather than a community college, so there's two models. t you graduate from high school, you get out of college and do two years at junior college, and then two years at a major college or university. so what that model doesn't include -- what it doesn't include is, for example, the -- families that live way far out who are now commuting hours to city college because they want to take professor beatrice herrera's latinos in the u.s.a. class, but that's not student success in this model. i wanted to clarify that, but to say that success or that junior college model is being pitted against what a kqed reporter framed to me in a question yesterday as extra classes. we all patently reject that framing of anything that doesn't go in the general education requirements as somehow extra. particularly, i found upsetting the framing of our african american studies classes as extra. in a country with our history, to frame that as extra in the education system is shocking to me. that is just unconscionable. african american studies, filipino studies, asian studies, those are not extra for us. those are crucial parts of our curriculum that we want to defend, and that we know that the people of san francisco want to defend, and we know that our trustees. so that's why we're asking the city to standup for those values to support all of our students and particularly to support those students that aren't getting support for the new state funding formula, so i'm going i'm -- [inaudible] >> hello. african american studies represents a legacy from the ethnic study strike over 50 years ago, okay? it's been around since 1970 that was created by glen nance. our department has been reduced to only part-time faculty. there is not one full-time faculty in that department. our students had six to eight courses. now it's time to maybe four in the african american study department, and the students tell me that because of the class cuts, they can't finish or graduate, okay, and that's what their fear is, and i hear that as in african american studies, being the former chair. now students are feeling left out. they're feeling what dr. king called bootless, and are really suffering from this -- these cuts are -- or to them, well -- what i'll term for them is infinite gentrification, we have zero funding in that department to do anything to continue to support students. maybe $200. so the quotes that are given by students is they're distressed, they're going to leave city college because they either have to finish someplace else or they have to go into the workplace, the workforce if they can find a job, but this is a stepping stone where they find their identity, their self-worth, their history, so that they can continue in other courses to be successful. i teach a statistics course at city college san francisco. my latin american latino studies is an in class in person course. students tell me they need that communal community interaction with that class to be successful. they need an instructor telling them they're smart enough, that they can get through this. but when there's less than 18% latino staff and let than that faculty of color, and no full-time, students can't see themselves succeeding. we need to get more of our students to believe they can move in that direction, and so we need to continue to support our ethnic studies and social justice courses because that's where they find their sense of history, their sense of self-aself, and their purpose. thank you. >> supervisor walton: thank you. i do have one question. i'm not sure if you can answer this, jennifer, or dr. coates, and if not, we can get the answer later. but do we know how many positions were affected from teaching class cuts and staff positions as a whole? >> we have also asked for that information and do not have it, but -- so we were disappointed not to get that information, as i know you were. we know that 300 classes were cancelled, and we're trying to track which of our faculty was unemployed as a result of that and which lost their insurance because if our loads drop below 50% of a full-time then we lose our health insurance, so we've been tracking it informally but we don't have comprehensive data. we've requested that but have not gotten that. >> supervisor walton: thank you. colleagues, do we have any questions? commissioner collins? >> commissioner collins: on that note, i appreciate it. that was really informative, so now, it has me questioning getting data from questions versus nonquestions, so looking at staff impacts by race because representation is important. and i also just wanted to reiterate in san francisco unified, we are starting to expand ethnic studies in our pre-k through 12 curriculum. it's very important to us because you're right. it's where students find agency and purpose, and they find it creates more welcoming environments in our schools in general, and so it's -- if we can have a list of the types -- you know, you've given me some specific names of courses that fit into these noncredit sections, so being able to see which courses have been most impacted and then being able to see the demographics -- or just even seeing course titles would be helpful, but if there's a way to see students taking those courses, it would be a way to see how those impacts are playing out by the groups of students or communities that take those classes. >> i think dr. coates has some specific answers about the breakdown in staff and if a kila -- faculty. i would just want to say that we would love to have that data, as well. we've requested it from our administration, and we have gre agreed it would be important, but dr. coates has prepared a few talking points on that, as well. >> what we found was that overall faculty of color is 18.7%, but african american full-time faculty is about 6.4%, native american, 2%, somewhere at .8 or .9% for part-time. latinx is about 4% full-time. this is what we were able to collect so far, so i don't know if that's helpful. >> commissioner collins: i appreciate that, but i'd also like for us to all be able to look at the differences maybe also between full and part-time and how those impacts, representation of staff. >> yes. >> supervisor walton: thank you. >> thank you. >> supervisor walton: are the students here from associated students? if you could come up. >> i'm not sure how much time i have. >> supervisor walton: you have the floor. >> okay. so i am just going to be -- well, let me introduce myself, first of all. my name is angelica campos. i am the president of the student body at the ocean campus, but i am head of the body that represents all of the district campuses in terms of students. our newly formed chancellor, which is our highest ranking for information, he is unable to be present, so i'm just going to first read a statement from him about the class cuts and our stance on all of this, the issue at hand. all right. we realize there's a southeast missing from there. their council's not active currently -- have done its best to listen to the many voices of the college. it's clear that the bridge funding ordinance is paramount to the long time service of the college. if the cut classes are lost for the rest of the semester, we would have solidified the college devoid of a multitude of classes and students that truly defines the city college of san francisco. it is this very tossing of blame both within the college and between the city and county that has ultimately led to the suffering of the students. my apologies. this is not a matter of giving the administration more funds as it is allowing for the students of the spring semester to have their unfair fortunes amended. many students will be call this semester their last here, thus, our student council has passed a resolution that was presented at the last board of supervisors meeting, and we also recognize that the e.b.f. ordinance is just a temporary reprieve for a larger standing problem that i've seen discussed here today. thus, throughout the entire month of february, we as the body representing students at city college are working to create town halls and more methods of dialogue between us, and the students, as well as our constituency of the member groups on campus. our student government will be also setting up some form of committee made up of students of all backgrounds to help us understand platforms and background situations at the college. it is our insight that these issues can be resolved by one group alone, but all those affected must work and unite together to over come this great obstacle in our college's histo history. our student government must address that these cuts were not consulted with us when they were planned, and that we are expected to work within archaic governance stress system that requires over 60 student seats across many college campuses in order to achieve full functionality. this has led to the ability of the administration to properly fully function -- i think i read that wrong -- to properly communicate with student government and has allowed for these drastic cuts to happen without any consultation or semblance of oversight by student government. we hope to find ways to entirely structure a sustainable participatory government system and student oversight to prevent such lack of trust to rise again within our college. these are, again, some ways that we -- these are some issues that we hope to address within the year. sincerely, drew caman, the leader of the associated student council. a few of the areas that i wanted to point out that are truly affected by these cost cuts are, first and foremost, the olac, older learning adult classes. while the main mission of city college should be to promote tr transmission rates, graduation rates, we can't forget the mission of city college is to provide lifelong living, sustainable learning, more activities for the community to partake in that may not already be there. as -- another thing is that there -- it was brought to my attention that at the mission campus, there was a high school program for people to get their diploma that was wiped out at that campus. i don't have the exact facts on that, and that was a question that i would like addressed by the college, per se, in some way. there has been a concern about metal works and automotive classes being cut and certificates being cut at the southeast -- not southeast, evans campus, and due to that, one of our members of the student government was no longer able to participate in our body due to the fact their certificate program was cut. and to be a part of student government, you have to hold a minimum of five units at the particular campus that you are serving for and representing. another thing that has affected my home campus, which is the ocean campus, is the cuts of dinner time service in the culinary department at our cafeteria. it not only affects students in the culinary department, it affects homeless students. we have a program at the ocean campus that provides meal cards for students to partake in and receive hot meals from the car tier i can -- cafeteria. and i know for many students that walk in our doors, food insecurity is a real big effort within the college as a whole. we also have nighttime students who are affected by cuts to the culinary department, which the culinary classes on the ocean campus at nighttime provide dinner for students who are there at late hours and also have classes at other areas of the college. and the lack of access to food when you're in college can affect your ability to perform in the classroom, and i can attest to that as a low-income student who's also part of the hear hearts student and is a student at the ocean camp uus. i'm affected by that as well as many other students, by the cuts to the culinary department. [please stand by] >> to the board of trustees, this letter will serve as a formal resignation and a call to action. i'm saddened to announce that i will no longer be the ccsf evans center asc vice president beginning january 2020. my short-lived seat on the council is entirely due to the budget cuts affecting our college. i have been taking classes at evans for over two years now only to have my education abruptly stopped because the only two courses that i need to graduate have been cut. i will continue to work full-time on my career while i wait for any available classes in future. several students have reached out and shared that they will most likely do the same. i'm not the only one. on a similar note, i ask for the return of all the certificate programs that once offered to students when i first started, only speaking from an automotive technology major standpoint, the only certificate offered in our automotive hybrid and e.v. technology which have been cut again, and utility technician helper. cutting certificates like engine specialist, transmission specialist, and many more drastically decreases opportunities that students have when seeking employment after completion of every course. having took a class on engine repair on a resume, does not have -- >> thank you so much. you can also send that to us so we can have it on record. next speaker, please. >> you can leave your documents in the purple box and i will pick it up. thank you. >> hello, my name is anthony. i'm a part-time instructor in the arts department. i was hired four years ago to implement a new screen printing class at the fort mason campus and a lot of resources went into that class. we invested in new equipment, buildings and grounds built equipment for us. i donated a lot of my own time for it. i solicited donations from the community for equipment. hit has been a very successful class that whole time that has been fully involved the whole time. i just wanted to hand the rest of my presentation over to one of my students who is here today >> she will have her own two minutes. >> okay. right own. anyway, i will not take up my two minutes. i will leave some room for tatiana. >> thank you and is. >> -- next speaker, please. >> you can use the next microphone which is a little bit lower. >> sorry. >> hello. my name is tatiana and i graduated from city college about five years ago and i graduated from san francisco state three years ago. i came back to city college to take art classes to develop my portfolio to apply to grad school. unfortunately, the class that i wanted to take was cut. it was anthony's class and i am just really sad and disappointed the classroom has been developed and been -- has become more accessible for people with disabilities and it does -- it's just unfortunate that these classes are being cut. i'm also a student of color and i take offence to that students of color aren't taking the classes, which is not true. i am also really sad because my mother was taking a class at city college. my mother has a junior high education. she didn't go to high school. she came here when she was 19 and the class that she was taking was cut and it is just really, really sad. that is all i have to say. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good morning. i am speaking as a student and as a representative of equity for older students. we can be reached at equity for older students at proton mail .com. i think the number one impact of the class cuts is actually what seems to be happening in the longer range where many more hundreds of cuts have been made over the last two years or so and that is the distraction of city college as a community college, which it has been for quite a long time. i have benefited from taking a sculpture and a drawing class. they are wonderful classes, terrific teachers, and a very, very wonderful community of folks who are learning those skills and improving their skills. i am glad to see the supervisors ' concerns, but the overall feeling that i can personally say with respect to the cuts is a feeling of betrayal and particularly a feeling of being excluded in the process. and to put it kindly, not being told the truth about what is going on really and what is happening and why. we heard it was the money, and then all we got from the chancellor was a letter to the mayor and supervisors, don't give us the money, we will not take it. we heard it was under enrolment. my classes have been greatly over enrolled. in fact, when the senior -- the older adult program, when those classes that i took were turned up by continuing education and were arranged by the teachers in that department, fully paid as a paid class and fully enrolled, everything was set up to go and suddenly the word from on high was no. these classes will not go on and they have basically left those folks in the lurch, as well as the teachers. i hope that the supervisors take a very strong action in -- >> thank you so much. next speaker, please. >> hello, my name is ellen. i'm a san francisco native. i speak here today not only for myself, but for the younger students, the lifelong learners, everyone that is affected by these cuts. first of all, i would like to say that i have been affected and impacted, but maybe not as much as other students, but my class, political 45 and the politics of the middle east was her certificate i was expecting to complete and i just would like to say that i am kind of stressed out. i am worried what will happen to the teachers at city college. if it wasn't for city college is a high school recovery program and john adams, i don't think i would be standing here today. and also i am concerned as a student with disabilities and health. i just found out that i have a severe nonproliferative retinopathy and if i did not have some of the support from the services and city college, i don't see how far, you know, i feel like that would really hinder my second chance at fighting for my education. it was once taken away and i remember somebody who was working in city college who told me that i'm not going to make it in law school. i came back with an honor roll of neuromuscular anatomy and i was able to throw that back in their face. i don't want anybody to say that education -- i don't want anyone saying no anymore. we need our classes. sorry. i got a little nervous. [laughter]. >> good morning. i am also here because i am a product of city college. thirteen years ago when i was there, a lot of students had a hard time registering for classes. she wants to sing -- [speaking spanish] -- so i cannot understand how they are saying there isn't going to be a big impact because my sister is now taking classes. she is ready to transfer and she has always been telling me since she started that a lot of people that come to try to add to the classes are not able to. so many, many people just who have been there for seven years because they -- their classes. i was in that situation too, but a lot of crying and going to the eop helped me and made my registration better, but a lot of students don't have that. i had a daughter when i was going to city college. i had a little girl. so that helped me, but a lot of single students that don't have kids, they cannot get that. and also about the community, our seniors enjoy going to city college. my mom, my dad, they took water aerobics there and i think city college is all of us. it is a whole community. and even those that are in high school that want to advance in college classes, it includes everyone. >> good morning. i was originally writing this to give to mayor london breed but i will try to -- louder? before i started teaching, i was teaching in mexico for about three years and i also talked about three years in sonoma with migrant education in english. our family has benefited from ccsf classes in so many ways. i went there in my first year, 1966. i later transferred to other colleges to earn 3 degrees and become a college esl instructor at ccsf for almost 34 years in a state certified court interpreter for 36 years. spanish and english. my husband, lucky enough to be a legal refugee who arrived here with his own bag and $4 in his pocket, studied at ccsf and other community college in english for three years. our twins are now in their twenties and graduated -- i can't read my writing here. and transfer to other educational provinces and -- programs and studied at ccsf as well. the county have the same territory of people and education and employment needs which ccsf can provide with sufficient funding to continue serving them fully, but not without sufficient funds. >> yes, ma'am. next speaker, please next speaker, please. we have a long line of speakers. thank you so much for your comments. [indiscernible] thank you so much. >> mr. chair, we must allow the speaker to have the same amount of time. the speaker's time is expired. >> you are going to ruin public comment for everyone. you have allowed -- a large crowd of speakers this morning. thank you so much. [indiscernible] next speaker, please. [applause] [indiscernible] >> hi, i am christina. sorry, i am a nervous speaker. i am an illustration student at city college and i just want to share with the supervisors. i know there's not a lot of data today, but to testify to the view that i see when i looked -- when i go to my studio art classes. when i look across my art classrooms, i see students of color, of all ages from teenagers, to maybe even pushing 70 and beyond and from every economic strata. some of my classmates can't be here today because they are at work or school. today people are rightfully seeking authentic representation of people of color in the visual arts. and one of the most powerful ways to achieve this is to foster and to protect barrier free access to art education. art classes are devastating -- the cuts made to arts classes are devastating to the school. on tuesday we heard reluctance on the part of some supervisors to extend funding to a chancellor and to some leadership whose stewardship of the school has raised questions and i just want the supervisors to know that many students share this concern and that if inquiry is called for, and it sounds like it truly is, students like me are absolutely in support. i ask that as you consider extending this bridge funding to think about what i see every time i step into my art classrooms. classes filled with every kind of citizen of this city because ccsf truly is city college. thank you. >> good morning. i was hired by city college as a part-time faculty in 2018. i was excited when i received the news that i'd be teaching classes in the older adults department. i taught class on body dynamics for a group of older adults. about 85%, low income, chinese-american, and filipino migrants. the other class i taught was at the institute on aging with a group of seniors with mall connected impairment. both of my classes were focused on improving body awareness, strength, balance, and coordination, all of these are skills that are necessary to prevent falls. falls among older adults are a public health problem. around 40% of elders 65 years and more fall every year. falls are the leading cause of emergency room visits and the first cause of hospital admissions due to trauma. the classes in the older adults department, including the body dynamic and aging processes and principles of balance and mind-body health provide a wide range of skills and knowledge for participants to prevent falls. prevention of falls in older version elders is crucial to avoid hip fractures and other injuries. many of us have a weakness or have family members who have suffered false. we know how economically and emotionally draining these are for families to provide care for people. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, i am arianna. i am a student city college. i ask you guys to bring back the administrative 68 report writing you have sheriff his here and they know how to write a report. how can you take my class away? i need that class to be -- to graduate. i am studying to be a sheriff. i got into a program by law. -- by luck. without knowing how to write a report, they would teach me in the department. i'm asking for the funding to bring back my class so my siblings and my brothers and sisters can become cops in the future. thank you. >> good morning, supervisors, commissioners, trustees. i am an english faculty and chair of the women's and gender studies department at department at city college. the flagship program of women's and gender studies at city college his project survive, our college's sexual health promotion and sexual violence prevention program. one element of the work that we have done over the last 10 years has been free, noncredit self-defence classes. people of all genders and all ethnicities, of different ages and ability levels are welcome to our beautiful mission campus for an eight week saturday afternoon class. we had planned and asked our instructor to commit to teach two sections this semester. we built the spring schedule, we checked the galley proofs, and then our classes are well enrolled. and in two his actions fell victim to the budget crisis in november. administrators cancelled our entire noncredit self-defence program. who does that affect? we know our noncredit students are low income. i pulled the demographic data of the students who have taken noncredit self-defence over the last five years and 60 1% are students of color. more than 90% are women or non binary. i feel confident asserting that students who take our classes are disproportionately survivors of trauma. you will hear some former students speak today about the impact of a free noncredit self-defence class. when you hear their stories, please know that 995 students have taken the class over the last 10 years on the level of the department and we are ready to restore the second faction of self-defence in spring 2020 and men tainted beyond that. we have the students who want to take it, the space, the instructor ready to teach at, let's do this together. this is part of what your bridge funding camera store can restore , self-defence. thank you. >> hello. i have been going to city college since 2017 and i have yet to be able to take a class at southeast or evans being that i am a resident in that neighborhood. none of the classes -- they go with my requirements. i just want to push to bring back the self-defence class at the mission campus, being that i am a member of the project survive community and just bring that back to campuses. >> hello, my name is michael. i went to a college in san diego and the city college of san francisco is completely different. i have learned so much here, but i'm concerned what is going on today too. i am also a student worker for the learning assistance center which has taken a 20% cut. it has been awful for a lot of students because we have cuts to ours. some students can't come to cs as much. second of all, which i'm really proud of, i am a peer educator for project survive. we are a sexual violence prevention program. what's really, really concerning his we lost our self-defence class and this class is really important because we have to give people hope, that they can take care of themselves, they can build life skills to protect themselves to the point that they can even save their lives and even others as well. when i look into crimes, i think crime is a reflection of cries for help. we don't have the resources and we don't have education, but when you provide the education for people, it gives them the beacon of hope that they can find their voice and they can take themselves out of hardships in their life. that is probably going to be robbed away. that is scary and that will have a huge detrimental impact for our future. we cannot allow that to happen. we cannot allow to let some groups of people -- thank you. >> good morning. i stand here as a san franciscan and a product of sfusd. i'm glad that students are part of this conversation, and the fact they are coming into city college, also junior college doesn't work. i went to skyline grade school, by the way, however, i did not see the opportunities that i needed there. also, i am a homeless student, as a student that wasn't working as much. going to city college i have found my path and i can start a career now. i can work on other things that i love, also the safety of our students, especially our sfusd students. that free class is available for people 14 and over. also, mothers are taking that course. she is also huge member of our martial arts community in san francisco. there is a picture of her up at navarro that has been in the city for years and closed down and miraculously came back up on geneva if anybody does need classes out there, they should be at least $30 a session. please bring it back for the safety of our sfusd students, for the safety of our mothers, and the fact they can teach their children how to defend themselves as well. >> hello. i am a faculty in the older adult and continuing education, as well as a student at city college. i would like to push a few ideas in terms of the frustration you have experienced today in terms of information. it seems that is the problem generally at city college. i would like you, as the leaders of the city, to help us find the information we need. a little bit of information i have about the older adult program, which i would like to just point out is also a community of people that most of the time is underrepresented and you can see, if you look into the crowd, there are a lot of us here that would like to be represented by the community college. i understand the state is pushing for graduation transfers and transfers to universities and all that stuff, but there are other communities that people are trying to get out of with low-paying service jobs to high paying union jobs. older adults that have to take care of themselves and build their own communities, and by such, save this city and costs -- and cause -- because of injuries, but also loneliness and social networks. this is a critical part of city college is to create community. the classes that have been cut at fort mason had hundreds of people going through them. and, in fact, they are self-funded. it is not even a money issue. they make money from the state. it's not city college and i think the money that was made last year was 140,000. these are small numbers. i think the cost projected was somewhere around 180,000 for 2020. the numbers of classes cut for older adults was -- >> next speaker, please. next speaker, please. thank you. >> the speaker's time has elapsed. next speaker, please. >> my name is zeke. i have been taking classes at city college for practically 20 years. for very long time taking art classes through continuing education, which is now called extension at fort nation -- fort mason. i want to add, please save fort mason. that is an amazing campus. i want to tell you what i love about city college. what i love about city college is how much effort is given and resources to help people succeed do you know you can go into the library without an appointment and get tutored in math and anatomy and physiology or help somebody write a paper? cutting classes is really -- it is going in the wrong direction. it's not helping people achieve dreams. it is not helping people succeed , and decimating the older adults offerings is unconscionable. i am a big, big advocate of lifelong learning and always have been. and of city college being a community college. it has effected me and that there was a class i was going to take in screen printing next semester was very suddenly was cut, and -- anyway, this seems to be some discussion on who is going to pay for the keeping the class cuts. please, please work it out. please, work it out. thank you. >> hello. i am african-american and latino as i prepare for classes for this semester, the final last semester at city college. i will be attending a university in fall 2020. i wonder what the next generation if they will have the same upward mobility that ccsf has given me. i have been a student at ccsf through the summer of nine -- since the summer of 1997. at that time, i had a child on my hip and a younger child looking up at me wondering how we will survive. so i wanted to go for nursing back in 1997, but i thought culinary would be a quicker way for me to be able to provide for my family. so wanted to tell you what ccsf has taught me. when i had taken english one a, it taught me that the teacher went back to the civilization of san francisco and then he taught -- so that was the beginning of our life. we had to go back to our childhood, know who we were, and tell us about our community that we belong to a community, and then it taught us about our individual self. i was doing social justice work. the door was open for me to learn about project survive which is a place for tranquility , a place where no one is judged and everyone is accepted for who they are. a place of tranquility and love. i was going to take self-defence classes this semester because i am a survivor of domestic violence. >> good afternoon. as a councillor who has worked with thousands of students at city college, i have seen these cuts as really unprecedented. they do not support our students of color, our equity populations , and so many who have dealt with trauma, with insecurity, and it was all the things that we are coping with as a city, as a community. so what you actually see is that the very classes that are supposed to help students reach their goals in terms of degrees, certificates, and transfers, are being whittled way back, and i started collecting stories from students who said they are in digital illustration, carpentry, commuter science, fine arts, visual media design, the older adults program sent me seven stories as soon as i put out that call. everybody has these needs that are so significant because, you know, in their lives, i see, as a student support coordinator, that if you don't have critical resources, which is what we provide through tutoring, through counseling, through the homeless and housing at risk programs, you are not supporting the full student. yesterday the housing at risk coordinator told me that her office abruptly got moved without any notice. this is not a private space that she will be moving into. she is swarmed. she has had her 20 our full support staff, back. she is the only person handling this for so many of our students who are sleeping in their cars, couch surfing, and potentially on the streets. these are the students we have to think about and support day in and day out. they come from all walks of life they come from high school, but they are also coming from distant countries where they have experienced hardships. they are older adult students. many of my child development students work full-time and full time and they also have spent years to get their degree so they can provide -- >> my name is janet. i teach ceramics. i think it's time we took a magnifying glass to the way this administration spends money because we share your concerns about the money. we had -- and i think we need to go to the highest levels to look at this. so we are told students of color will be helped by these cuts, but we have been hearing that is not the case. when i look across my classroom, which is always full, i have 25 students in a small ceramics studio, and i turned away at least that many that wanted to take the class. i see a lot of black hair. i mostly see black hair when i look out across my classroom, and some grey hair. we are an ethnically diverse college and we know it. nobody needs to even prove that. we know that is true, and yet these very classes are the ones getting cut. ceramics lost a third of its program. a third of our program. these classes are always full and we always have a waiting list. we always have to turn people away and people love these classes. we have to look at what is what shout what really is going on. i appreciated your question about, you know, what is the real motive? what is the real thing going on here? faculty who are cut were mostly part-timers who had health benefits. so that was one big cost savings it had nothing to do with certificates or the programs or what is good for the students. how about the real estate? it's a real estate grab here. we have southeast campus completely emptied out. great, let's sell it. we will tear down the art bill -- arts building so we can build a new building. we just heard there will be another new building built. what is this? what is really going on? let's look at the highest levels of administration here. we want your help. >> hello. i'm a student at city college. just to go off with janet was saying just now, we do want your help. i just wanted to, to the trustees in the room, students and faculty spent the last two months fighting really, really hard to restore the classes we lost and i'm glad that now you are supporting this supplemental , but you were not there for the legislative visits , you are not there advocating for the funding, and i think that, you know, supporting the supplemental a day before it was voted on is not enough. we all did the legwork to get the votes and if you heard why some people didn't vote for the supplemental, it is because the administration and the college were not asking for it. that is true. you were not asking for it. so i want you to reflect on that and why you were not asking for it until the very last moment when the vote was upcoming and we already knew what the vote would be like. i really would like you to reflect on that and to think why is it that the students and the faculty have had to put in all the work to save these classes that are obviously extremely important to the community. i don't want to be redundant and say, you know, how i have been affected, because i think there are more compelling stories here from students who are mower disadvantaged than i am and we need your help. we do need your help, but we need your full help, not just when it's convenient and when it will look bad if you don't help us. i wish we had more data as well and i'm disappointed the administration did not provide all the data that supposedly supports all these cuts, but i am most disappointed by the lack of support from our trustees. we really need you to advocate for the college the way that we are advocating for it. i really, really think that needs to be said here because all the students that are behind me, we spend a lot of our time trying to get this to $.7 million that we probably won't get if the mayor vetoes. thank you. >> this student even offered half of her pastel drawing supplies because she knew how expensive materials could be. i did not accept her generous offer say but -- offered but she exemplifies to a city college student is. some who is generous, kind, and resourceful. these are the students who are affected when you cut classes. what makes city college special is is a free open campus available for students at any skill level. to get some perspective, san francisco has three private art schools. one is the renowned san francisco art institute which charges, intuition alone, nearly $46,000 each school year and requires a well-developed art portfolio of work for admission. san francisco state, the only other school with a public our program charges $7,200 in tuition for the year. city college is the only place where you can receive a high quality education. i want to share with you all testimonials from city college art department students describing the impact and many of these students participated in the protest art show that is currently on at fort mason on the first floor. i hope you will be able to attend before it closes on february 5th. thank you. >> hello. i am a student. i'm here to talk about the filipino language classes. as of spring of 2020, the filipino language class was cancelled because and because of that, i was devastated because i want to learn and understand the filipino language. also, the filipino community is one of the biggest communities in san francisco, and because of that, the language is the third most spoken language in san francisco. cancelling filipino language class limits people like myself who are willing to take and learn the filipino language. the filipino language also fulfils humanity in ccsf which is required to graduate. when he to restore the classes so students like myself who want to learn to speak the language, to munich it with family, friends, and the community and are able to get the certificate of accomplishment for taking the filipino language community. >> hello. i come to you today as someone who was born in san francisco, raised in san francisco, attended lowell high school, eventually got into u.c. davis, and experienced sexual abuse as a child, and in college. so i need to understand that between intergenerational trauma as a child of refugees, as someone with women in my family who have experienced sexual trauma, and is is a right -- and as a survivor myself, you know, the way that the state measures achievement, they would have went right past me. they didn't know that i needed help and i performed perfectly fine in their system. at the end of it, i felt empty. i didn't know who i was, i didn't know what i wanted to do, and i have had suicidal ideations. you have to understand that in city college, the type of support that we provide is something that is about providing community. it's about teaching people the history of those who are marginalized. it is about empowering those with a sense of identity so they know, they understand their impression and they can fight it in their own lives, they can fight it in their communities, and they can excel because only because of city college do i have the strength to apply to medical school, that i want to go into public health, and i want to be someone who helps the community, who helps the asian-american community, who helps a latino excommunity where my partner is from, who will help the undocumented community, to provide them extraordinary health outcomes. we don't want to survive, we want to thrive. protecting and bringing these classes back is about being able to bridge and prevent these programs from being cut at all. >> my name is aris. i want to say that there are systemic issues that this administration must address. one thing is getting a forensic audit to address the budget crisis and another thing is supporting emergency bridge funding to get a remaining cosponsor. also, we have our own marketing firm or marketing program, but then they are unable to support the under enrolled classes that are in danger of getting cancelled. students have been doing that. students have been doing outreach despite being exhausted for me i am tired to the point where i have to convince myself that i am not drained at this moment. it has enabled students who live -- to live their lives. we do this because we care. we do this because this community has taught us how to be empathetic. we are taught how to also live our lives. i know that one night, a family member of mine told me that they wanted to disappear and i know when they said that to me, it felt like all the lights turned off. i wanted to be able to help them and i think city college enables me to have the skill set to talk to someone and help them and pulled him upwards because, again, there is upward mobility that city college provides. i want you to, in this room, it is one room, good it could be one of the 300 historic classrooms i could be provided. thank you. >> hello, everyone. i am a social justice and feminist and trans study major at city college of san francisco i am low income and i have a not very visible disability. i came to san francisco -- to city college after an incredibly demoralizing experience at a private for-profit art school here in san francisco where i faced institutional homophobia and trans phobia. so when i came in i enrolled in my first lgbt studies class, it put me on a path where i was then able to regain my confidence, not only that, but i was able to see myself living beyond the age of 30. i was able to do that because in the classroom, we had a beautiful and diverse community. it wasn't intergenerational experience with people from all walks of life coming to learn about the lgbt community and about the issues we face and about our history and sharing how we experience that. and now the lgbt studies department does not have the budget to offer much of any in person classes and that experience is being taken away. it is so important we have that. the community has suffered a genocide. the aids crisis is a genocide. so for me to understand my history, my community's history, i have to be able to have those conversations with community elders and the lgbt classes at city college gave me that space and gave me that understanding and drove me to have the will to serve my community, to understand my community's scrubbed the struggles and be able to put myself forward for all of those aspects and that is what drives me now. and to see that stripped from future generations is a tragedy. >> these safe places have helped me to proclaim my own self worth and reclaim my body and, yeah, so many of our teachers in the dance department are part-time and almost all of them lost all classes except for one. they weren't fired because it just looks better if you cut all of our classes except for one and they lose their health insurance. i really feel like all of this is just masquerading as downsizing the college and making it into a junior college and not providing support for marginalized people in our community. city college has been so important for me to be able to grow as a person and move on. also, part of the lgbt studies students and so many of our classes have been moved online. having those classes in person is so important for us to find community and to feel safe. thank you so much. >> hello. my name is jess and i am a student a city at college. i'm a recipient of free city and i'm completely grateful for this opportunity to transition to a new career. i came to city college specifically for welding, machine shop, and metal arts, which is casting and fabrication all of which have been slashed from the school. i am indebted to these teachers, mike campbell, suzanne pugh, jack da silva for opening the door for me. as a woman in trades, there is not a lot of opportunity. unfortunately, we are sexually harassed at some workplaces or training centers or we are not opened the door for because they assume because of our gender we are not able to do the same things that most men can do. i am just shocked at the way that the school has demolished the training program. we went to the labor council to tell them what is happening to our city's college and there is manufacturing in our history, in our bloodstream, in san francisco and we can't even fill the jobs that are being advertised. it is crushing. we have students that are homeless. we have students that are food unstable and education is not secure for them. they need to be able to learn skills and traits in order to produce items so they can sell. we have so many students that rely on these classes that can teach you a lot of these physical labor skills. students like myself are organizing and we are inviting the rest of former students and we are working with our community in order to support past and current students. we are suffering and students should not be suffering because of certain administration, the culture, the lack of financial transparency. we need the governance that we deserve. we should not be whistleblowing. it should be -- >> i am in a movie that deals with gentrification. i have been hearing stories for the past 30 minutes or so. it seems city college is being gentrified. it seems as opportunity is being taken. i know money is in this city the city. we need to preserve the opportunities that are in the city. this has always been a safe haven for people to migrate from all over the world. my parents met at city college. my father is an immigrant. had city college not been here, no telling where i would be. this is a story of empathy. it's not about feeling sorry or anything like that. it's about being empathetic and understanding that people need opportunities. if not, they lose hope. if people lose hope, there's no telling what will happen. they don't want san francisco to be completely erased. what i mean by that is it is culture. it's diversity. it is inclusion and when i listen to these people, it hurts because those are the stories that they are telling me. they do not have a huge social media following and maybe not financially affluent, but that doesn't mean that they don't deserve to have a voice for future students. we don't deserve a chance to do what they are doing. >> i brought my own timer because i don't like those little things. they throw me off. happy friday. i just want to shout out to all the niners gear i see here. shout out to everybody. it is nice to see this type of energy and the congregation. a lot of times we don't see that and a fun fact is the last time the niners won the super bowl was the year i was born. i feel like we are due for another one. seeing that type of stuff, it brings hope. we hope that the niners will win and that type of hope is the same thing that san francisco ccsf did for me on my pursuit of education. i was born in the city, raised in the city and i was highly educated in the city. i was fortunate enough to be one of the first people not only in my family to go to college, but as well as in my whole neighborhood. it wasn't a lot of people trying to pursue higher education. we were confined in a certain type of mindset within our neighborhood to think that graduating college wasn't something that was possible. so you might -- imagine how i felt when being one of the first people to drop of college went to college. i had no hope. i do not have the happiness i felt right now seeing the niners going to the super bowl and knowing i am a a, -- college graduate. i was in a basement with some creative people cooking up one of the biggest independent films in the world right now, but also , i was at a place where i didn't know where i wanted to go fortunately, enough in my pursuit of a degree and graduating from st. mary's college in california, city college provided a crucial psychological class that st. mary's wanted $10,000 for. i couldn't afford that. i am saying all of that to say that it is imperative to have city college here because the same week that i graduated college is the same week that the last blackmail in san francisco -- [indiscernible] >> thank you. >> i am san francisco city college. my father was a custodian at city. as a student i came here to get basic courses before going to graduate school. i choose to teach at city and to be there as a role model for students of color and poor students. throughout my time at city, i have taught incarcerated students, dual enrolment high schoolers, returning students, veterans, immigrants, refugees, differently abled, career changers, nonbinary, students like y'all, and the teachers of young children. young children are the future. i teach to the future. do not let present adelson in -- destroy the future. >> we have to take a quick recess because we don't have a >> and creating a cut-rate, run-down college in one of the most wealthiest and progressive cities in the united states. instead of improving the school, rocha tried to double the wages of his administrators and cut class classes across the board. he wants to increase class sizes to 40 students and have more online classes. he says he's doing this to create a school for minority students. minority students are often low income and need to work. studies show online classes are more difficult for minorities and immigrants. these classes make it difficult to take classes. he is creating a cut-rate, run-down college and saying he's doing it for the students. he is creating a ghetto in one of the wealth eest cities in america. he is making our city college into a joke. >> thank you to the alonite people, whose land we are on. thank you to the board of supervisors and the board of trustees and the students , the faculty, the administration of the community. i am here as a student of the older adults program, which i credit making me a survivor with the body dynamics class which has been cut and the reason i'm standing here right now. i'm also here as an ally to myself and the larger bay area communities who desire to learn about black history, culture, and whose department chair has not been hired due to a hiring freeze at our school. i ask that you restore classes and support a lifting of the hiring freeze so that our school's role in helping all students is realized. [speaki [speaking indigenous language] and i pray that this will happen. >> [speaking foreign language] -- i have first worked at the city college in the early 1990s, 1993 to 1995. and then i started again in 2005 as a classified staff member. i've been a faculty member for the last three years. i do not know if i have a class from one semester to the other right now. in the english department, i'm one of the very few faculty of color. i don't have any classes from last semester. my students are asking me, are you going to teach the next class? and i had to tell them i don't know, i don't know, i don't know. and now no. and these are english classes and every student needs english classes. i had students saying they couldn't get classes. they were on long wait lists. because the online registration system is so wonky, they were not able to get in at all. some of them are just not taking english this semester. some of them got into a late start class and i'm glad they are. i am teaching a poetry for the people class. some of the students that will eventually tell -- come to city college and i don't know what to tell them. i am also an adviser to the muslim students association. i don't know if i will be there from one semester to the end. one of our students has been waiting to take the politics of the middle east class since she started at city college and now it's been cut. this is where we are and i'm asking you to give us the funds to restore our spring schedule and put us back on track and support our students of color. thank you. >> i teach in the mathematics department at city college, but my history with city college is 30 years old. i started there as a student in 1990. i'm here to say that contrary to the comments of the administration, these cuts are not helping our students of color. our students of color are being funnelled into particular pathways and they're not given a chance to explore their passions, they're not given an opportunity to take classes when they have time in their busy schedules from working. i think that the fact that the administration did not send a representative today speaks volumes over the number of students and faculty who are here today to ask for your support in keeping the community in our college. city college of san francisco is san francisco. look around the room. listen to the people who have been here and speaking to you. even our students -- when the opportunities to earn job experience or to earn a certificate as opposed to transferring to a four-year school and going on a very narrow path is taken away, we are robbing our students of color and all of our students from opportunities to explore their passion. if i had not had that opportunity, i would not have the three degrees i have now. yes, i did transfer to a four-year school. i got my graduate degree. i'm back teaching at city college. that's not what every student needs to do. our culinary arts supplies so many workers to the city in the restaurant and hospitality industry. we're cutting those classes and our students have nowhere to go. they're going to be forced to look at for-profit colleges -- >> thank you, all. i'm faculty from city college. the museum studies classes was cut. out of that came the freedom way initiative, which is what changed the name from a disgraced official to someone who represents those with real minority struggles. out of the museum studies has come the land acknowledgement initiative. the initiative would institute a purposeful initiative. the city college sits on indigenous land and owes its success to the struggles of the indigenous people. between the museum studies and s.f. monument will be established for the first time. but museum studies will be canceled unless the bridge funding goes forward. in the curriculum pipeline is the museum studies and social adjustment certificate, responding the need to diversify staff. with the population of low-income students and students of color, city college is in a unique position to make this happen. many students are losing an opportunity to enter a field, crying out for their participation. the $2.7 million bridge funding will help, not hurt, fiduciary responsibilities at the college. >> i taught at civic center at city college for 37 years. i'm speaking today for dan hayes, the chair of the p.e. department. he has the flu. over 90% of city college's student athletes transfer to four-year schools. they earn scholarship. they need to finish their academic work for transfer in two years. losing classes this semester, summer and fall, will jeopardize their ability to finish on time. it will push these students to take online class or physically attend classes at nearby community colleges. at least 75% of our student athletes at city college are of color, mostly of low-income families. these students strive to be recruited by ncaa schools. in some cases, this is the only way they can afford to attend four-year universities, on athletic scholarships. schools will not offer athletic scholarships to students who do not graduate in two years. it's as simple as that. so cuts in classes make it difficult. it's n -- if not impossible for students to reach their goals. please fund city college now. >> good afternoon. i especially wanted to thank the school board members for bearing witness to what is being said today. of course i also speak to the board of trustees and to the board of supervisors. my name is sue inglander. i am a woman of many hats and buttons, and today i represent a.f.t. 2121 and also the harvey mill fund that supports the funding of the supplemental fund, but also chemical consciencondemns the cuts at city college. look at the parking lots. the main lot is full, but the supplementary lots are empty. you can see the kind of impact the cuts have had. you ask about what's going on here and now in the budget, i also ask what about the vision of the future. what are we doing going forward to correct city college as an institution? cuts before classes can properly enroll is not fair to students or faculty. sometimes it takes a week and a half for my classes to meet their error enrolment and go forward. and sometimes we are being cut before that time. the chancellor and mayor express what i think is disrespect for our good-faith efforts to fix the college. we have not reached out until now for money because we were trying to fix things internally. the notion of student success at city college is a joke, a mess, a diversion. the chancellor uses these well-intentioned people to hide behind and he does not speak to us any longer. i am prepared, i have been prepared, and in class i'm -- >> my name is linda coughman. i've been an engineering instructor at city college for 36 years. i'm incurred the vice president of a.f.t. 2121. i am the faculty chair of the enrolment management committee. at the board meeting where it was announced that there would be huge class cuts, this was before november 19, the meeting before that, i called the administrative chair of the management committee, and i said, the board directed you to get consultation from the faculty and chairs. when is that going to happen? she said, don't worry, it will happen. the next thing i know, the eve of registration, over 300 classes were cut. yes, i get that we have budgetary problems, but the problem is much deeper than that. we have to ask, what is going on at city college? if it really were about the budget and just making sure we keep the classes where students of color graduate, why is it in my engineering classes i have students that can't get their a.f. degree they were going to get before transferring and the class they were going to take is going to severely diminish their chances of getting into the school of their chance, which is u.c. berkeley. i'm going to read out what one of my students wrote to me. i won't be able to complete my associate degree in engineering. engineering 10b, one of the courses canceled, is one of the classes i need to obtain my degree. under the circumstances, i can't obtain that degree that i've worked so hard for. this semester is the last semester before my transfer. without that course, my chances of getting accepted to u.c. berkeley have been lowered. what is happening at city college? >> my name is stephanie mckaller. i'm speaking to you from the english department. a former student myself and as a queer identified woman in faculty. if we care about student completion, we need to care about all of these classes that were cut. these are the classes that offer reflections of the stories and histories of our student body. visual arts, creative writing, and dance classes offer spaces for these students to tell and celebrate their own stories. nurturing the cells that often get ignored and marginalized in other spaces. they also allow people who are marginalized every day to tap into their resilience. my students have expressed similar experiences. i had a student who shared with me that they identified as trans. they were struggling and considering suicide. they said seeing me who identified as queer that they were able to do some important healing. they were not the first student to share a story like this and i doubt they will be the last. i'm also one of the faculty members who lost her employment this semester as a result the cuts. when our department chairs received the information about the class cuts in november, they lacked specific information about how this would affect faculty load. i had previously been offered a class to teach. i rearranged my schedule. it was on anti-racism. it was very exciting for me. but because of the confusion, i found out two weeks later that i was losing my class. so i found out in the first week of december that i wouldn't have employment in january. when you cut these classes, it does affect the students, but it also affects the faculty who are there who care about the students who help represent their interests. thank you. >> i worked for city college for many years and before that i was an electrician. thanks to city college i completed my degree at state. i got enough math to get through the apprenticeship, which is a very technical trade. speaking of math, shall we just stop pretending this is the first shocking cut. we've had departments worse than decimated for years now. look at us, we're a beautiful crazy quilt of all backgrounds, ages, ethnicities, persuasions. this is city college. this is shocking and rude, but i ask, who needs genocide when you have gentrification? there is an attack on our campus. my parents came from nothing. they were soldiers. my mother was a food insecure immigrant who grew up here. i am proudly working class. please, don't disrespect these teachers who went through graduate school, who are paying off student loans, who can't work and get their health insurance. thank you so much. >> i'd like to thank the city council members who are still in the chamber. thank you very much for waiting for us. sometimes this goes for a reason. the world looks up to us for freedom for our strength. dear city college, you were founded as a junior college in 1935. today you are a multi-generation al. you include the low income, the seniors, as well as language and the arts. you are for the youth, yes, for the credits and for the long run, for materialistic diplomas and degrees. you are ours. you are way more than that. for thousands of years, peaceful generations of i understand indians have enjoyed their land. they remember for us to respect. history is also culture. for our education to thrive. and as much as our education is the future, this is also the past. our community comes in many forms. historically, the hippies, and also the great innovators of our time. if free thinkers is what we are, that should go beyond money, beyond budget, more than credits, and about materialistic goals. we are about culture or at least that which we should be. it has been said for our education. does that ring a bell? education should be without budgets. california is the sixth wealthiest economy in the world. [ please stand by ] >> unfortunately we have a board and a chancellor now who says there is no money. there's nothing we can do. just as the board and chancellors initially said, in 2012 when the accreditors attacked us and said that we could not resist, successfully resist. we have proven that that was wrong and that the accreditors, in fact, had to change. >> thank you so much. next speaker, please. thank you. >> my name is joyce and i have been a student in the older adult classes at fort mason, and especially my class which is the figure drawing class. i'm here to ask the board of supervisors to give support for the older adult program at fort mason and also at the other venues here in the city. it's these classes that are very important -- a very important part of the health of the older adult community, the disabled community, and also the students who are able to attend these classes as well. especially at fort mason, there has been a wonderful, and international, multiethnic community of artists from all over the world that have a place to work. they are -- there are live models and it is a wonderful place for creative people to continue with creative activities and these are so healthy for our community. i ask that you please support the older adults program at fort mason and the other venues in san francisco. thank you very much for your time and your help with this. thank you. >> i grew up on seventh and folsom street at a time in the 1940s when there was 400 french hotels along the embarcadero. these were all run by french women. they helped the longshoreman and aided other people along the embarcadero. at this type of ambience today existed, would be a much better city. half of my family is french and the other half is mexican. i remember growing up on green street when my cousin was not allowed to speak spanish. mr. mendoza said no spanish in this house ever. and the same thing happened in my house. what happened is i have my two grandmothers grandmother his and my italian grandfather only speaking french to me and refusing to have me speak back. this is just my story. i have been going to city college for 40 years. i was our director of the tribune and worked for the new york times. thank you. >> i am from the gray panthers. i taught physiology to city college nursing students for a number of years. some of hume treated me later at kaiser hospital. we are furious about the older adult cuts, but we are also furious at the racist cuts to the younger students' classes that disrupt and wreck their lives. they are racist because so many of the students at city college are people of color and they are racist because so many of the cut classes are people of color oriented. i was research lab technician for 15 years, but the research grants started drying up so i needed to change careers. i entered a thriving biomedical technician program at foothill college that sent technicians to hospitals all over the bay area and it was the only one in the bay area. many of the students were women construction workers who had had terrible endeavor it -- injuries on the job and had to change careers. this enabled me to work 15 years at the san francisco general hospital neonatal nursery fixing life-giving equipment. the semester after i graduated at foothill college i checked the catalogue to see what classes were going to be offered for the following semester. none were listed. i called the leader of the program to ask him why. he said, i don't know why. it turns out his whole program had been cut and he hadn't even been informed of it. this is the kind of thing that is going on on this program that the state is going forward. restore all the classes and pass the fund. give this city college funding for long-term fiscal stability. >> thank you so much. >> hello. as with other seniors, i have enjoyed taking classes even music appreciation, computer literacy, and tai chi. these classes keep my mind active and enable me to pursue lifelong learning. i also enjoy the social aspect of these classes by sharing common interests and discussing various ideas with my classmates by taking computer classes, i have been able to navigate the internet and find information i need. taking tai chi classes has greatly improved my balance with falling as a concern for me. with the cancellation of these classes, i feel a deep void in my life. art, music, literature and theatre with ethnic studies interweaving in all these areas play major part in our society. yet the chancellor has cancelled all the city college classes in these areas. these courses play an important role in the development and growth of the whole person. they help students develop skills and critical thinking, ethical reasoning and cultural, social, and environmental and personal awareness and responsibility. these very values are stated in the mission statement of city college of san francisco. thank you. pardon my speech making, i am better at writing than talking in public. >> my name is paula. i am a part-time faculty member in the p.e. and dance department i have been teaching five classes for 13 years and i was cut down to one class. i do receive benefits there city college of san francisco for my family and three children. i want you for a moment to picture this. i would like you to visualize a dance studio that is half the size of this room and a nice, open space. in one corner you have my student, monique. she is an african-american student who is legally blind in a dance class. i placed next to her sash, a student from belarus who is working towards her a.a. degree in dance. i also have liz, who by day is a high-powered tech executive and sorrow, a homeschooled freshman and first time college student working on her g.e. on the other side of the room, a cal berkeley student returning to city for dance classes. next to them, lgbtq students, international students completing their ged and in the back, i have a retired s.f. -- sfpd ex-cop. and esl student and faculty from neighboring departments. we are all travelling together, different destinations, different paces, but we are interacting with one another. racial, cultural, socioeconomic and gender barriers do not exist in this shared space. we are in the work -- where in the world can find this happening? we are learning and working together and it is successful. the classes that were cut were in high demand and over enrolled these classes are necessary. please support us and restore our communities, restore our shared learning spaces. we are a reflection of our city. stand up for your people and for your community. >> hello. my name is christopher. i am a native of san francisco. i have taught film and film editing at city college. currently i have been taking sculpture classes at fort mason and i was absolutely devastated to find out just a couple days before thanksgiving that our classes were cut and he would not be reinstated. i also found out then that 90% of older adult classes had been cut. so then i also heard that there was this policy that is coming down, this policy of eliminating classes only if you are going to matriculate and graduate. and human improvement classes were being shortened. so i went on to this state chancellor's website to look up the vision statement for community colleges. i got this little tidbit there. it says the colleges are a source of lifelong learning, offering recreation and enrichment and exercise to california's diverse communities his opportunities for learning, training, and civic engagement together make this a rich source of opportunity for all californians. that doesn't sound like it's exclusively for a one track or another track. it sounds like it's for all californians for enrichment and for general betterment, not only for academically focused materials. this is a community college. san francisco is a community and it should remain a community. please vote for to put $7 million to fund this program. we really appreciated. thank you for your time. >> thank you. >> hello, my name is stephen. i am a faculty at the evans campus and i waited till the end because i wanted to give my students a chance to speak, but to the two city college board members, i want to let you know we have been working hard to get these classes put on the 300 classes that were cut, and two the people that would have voted for this specifically said, and marcus already said this to you, they would have voted for this, but they were not asked by the board. the board and the chancellor. so i just wanted, you know, there is a saying, ask and you shall receive, knock on the door and it will be opened to you. that is where our students to try to do. if they can't do something or they need -- they are struggling , they ask for help. you guys never asked for help. you said an opportunity for do this. stand up and say you will accept this money. we not only have had cuts, we have been halved. our office has been halved in the last few years. you know, we need a change of management there. we have an automotive class and i am a product of city college. a lot of the classes i took got me to where i am. they were classes that i took at night. at times my work and schedule in family life allowed me to take these classes. a lot of our students come and take my classes. our introductory automotive class is now -- has been cut. the students want to better themselves and move on, they need my class and they need a class on a saturday. our part-time instructor who taught that class, his job has been cut. he has been teaching in our caught -- college for 25 years. his class needs to be restored. he needs to be teaching at least two or three classes. thank you. >> i'm a part-time instructor. i am not here just for myself. with the older adults department , which has been decimated, or the music department which has lost 50% of its classes since 2012. a few points. city college is a great opportunity for a large and diverse populace, as you have been hearing today. a few issues. city college serves the many and that is part of why it has been targeted. in 2013, the state chancellor's office, in league with the accrediting commission, improperly engineered a state takeover which is never had anything to do with the quality of the instruction at the college, but just a few years, city college lost a third of its students. i think it's 20 to 25,000 maybe. it has never really recovered. that is part of why we're here today. here's another example of downsizing. the state academic senate reinstituted restrictions on course repeatability 10 years ago or so. these are in effect across the state. especially affects the arts, physical education and downs. such restrictions were imposed and were overcome, but that is not happening at all. that affects enrolment. bridge funding a loanable solve the budget woes at city college, but that is no reason to reject it. please ask for the classes and talk to the mayor and say that you want her to sign the measure when it is passed next week. this is not just about money either. there are extension classes that are fully funded that had to be refunded because they were blocked by the administration. that is tens of thousands of dollars. something his wrong here. >> thank you so much. do we have anymore public comment? seen none, public comment is closed for this hearing. i definitely want to thank everyone for coming out this morning. obviously we have a lot more information that we need to have a full discussion about what the path forward looks like. it is my hope that the supplemental is moved forward and received by the college so we can preserve as many classes as possible for this 2020 spring semester, but i do just want to say that we are going to be coming back to the table here at this committee to have a further discussion when we have more information to provide to the public so we can figure out a way to work together to move forward. so with that said, i will pass this back over to the chair of the committee, which in this case, a supervisor fewer. thank you also much for being here today. -- thank you all so much for being here today. >> i forgot that i am the chair. i am so sorry. trustee williams? >> thank you. i want to thank supervisor walton for your attention to this issue and for your love for city college and for everyone's love for city college. all the testimony and everything that was spoken here today. we have heard it loud and clear. i want to, again, reiterate how much we want to work with the city and county of san francisco to apply solutions and solutions now. folks' lives have been deeply impacted. it is very concerning. as a former city college student and s.f. native, to hear some of the testimony, you know, you could not not feel when people came up to the podium and spoke. i just appreciate everyone for coming out and for your tireless advocacy for our college. it has been many years that we have been in this fight together and we will continue to fight that keep it as a community college. thank you. >> trustee randolph? >> thank you. i want to thank everybody who came out today to speak and provide public comment. i also want to thank our administrators and deans for entering the line's done and being in the trenches every single day. i know how hard you work and i know you have to represent the college here today in a very difficult topic and subject. so i know you are the ones that were sent into the battle. i know all of you and the work that you do. thank you for sitting through this entire hearing and to listen to the public and to us here up front and for persevering every single day at city college. i know you are in the trenches, you are not necessarily the top that makes those decisions. thank you. >> any other comments or questions? seen none, i also want to say thank you for everyone coming out and also to city college administrators and trustees for educating us on the situation at city college. i look forward to working together toward a solution. thank you very much. do we have any other business before us today? >> is there a motion on this matter? >> i think we would like to continue this to the call of the chair, please. >> is there a second? >> i will second that. >> on that motion says. [roll call] the motion passes. this motion is continue to the call of the chair. >> is there any other business before us today? >> that completes the agenda for today. >> we are adjourned. thank you. >> san francisco recreation and parks department offers classes for the whole family. rec and parks has a class for everyone. discover what is available now and get ready to get out and play. henri matisse. frida kahlo. andy warhol. discover the next great artist. get out and play and get inspired with toddler classes. experience art where making a mess is part of the process. classes and the size the artistic process rather than the product. children have the freedom to explore materials at their own pace and in their own way. talks love art, especially when they died into the creative process -- dive into the creative process. at the end of the classes, they have cleaned and washup. of.com great way to get out and play. for more information, visit sfrecpark.org. that out and play and get into the groove. rec and parks offers dance classes for seniors. first-time beginners or lifetime enthusiasts -- all are welcome. enjoy all types of music. latins also, country and western. it is a great way to exercise while having lots of fun. seniors learn basic moves and practice a variety of routines. improve your posture, balance, and flexibility. it is easy. get up on your feet and step to the beat. senior dance class is from sf rec and park. a great way to get out and play. >> for more information, >> once i got the hang of it a little bit, you know, like the first time, i never left the court. i just fell in love with it and any opportunity i had to get out there, you know, they didn't have to ask twice. you can always find me on the court. [♪] >> we have been able to participate in 12 athletics wheelchairs. they provide what is an expensive tool to facilitate basketball specifically. behind me are the amazing golden state road warriors, which are one of the most competitive adaptive basketball teams in the state led by its captain, chuck hill, who was a national paralympic and, and is now an assistant coach on the national big team. >> it is great to have this opportunity here in san francisco. we are the main hub of the bay area, which, you know, we should definitely have resources here. now that that is happening, you know, i i'm looking forward to that growing and spreading and helping spread the word that needs -- that these people are here for everyone. i think it is important for people with disabilities, as well as able-bodied, to be able to see and to try different sports, and to appreciate trying different things. >> people can come and check out this chairs and use them. but then also friday evening, from 6:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., it will be wheelchair basketball we will make sure it is available, and that way people can no that people will be coming to play at the same time. >> we offer a wide variety of adaptive and inclusion programming, but this is the first time we have had our own equipment. [♪] welcome to the commission on disability and aging services. will the secretary please take the roll. president here. vice president here. commissioner knutzen here. spears here. also present, shireen mcspadden. we ask that you silence all cell phones. >> president serina: before proceeding to the agenda, i would like the newest commissioner, barbara sklar to give us a few words. >> i have a history in working with the elderly and with the

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