Elimination of programs and reallocating existing resources is the only way LBCC can make the investments needed to update our programs due to several consecutive years of budget cuts from the State of California. Even with the passage of Proposition 30 and the Governor’s January Budget Proposal, LBCC still faces a $6.4 million dollar deficit this year and millions of dollars in deferred revenues for the foreseeable future.

Among community colleges, LBCC has a long and distinguished history as one of the leading community colleges in California for providing high quality career technical and workforce education programs (CTE/WFD). Few community colleges offer the breadth or number of programs as does LBCC. While the decision to discontinue programs at LBCC was not popular, the Board of Trustees engaged in a methodical and deliberate process to ensure that the decision was not only right for the college, but also right for our students. It is important to note that LBCC is an educational institution and that its goal is to provide students with educational opportunities that lead to diplomas, certificates and to prepare for transfer.

LBCC's commitment to CTE/WFD programs is unwavering. LBCC has always had a comparatively large number of stand-alone CTE programs and will continue to offer a wide range of CTE/WFD programs going forward. The programs were recommended for discontinuation after a lengthy process that included significant input from faculty leadership including the Academic Senate, Department Heads, faculty union leadership, affected faculty members and students, as well as the College’s Executive Committee.

One of the key criteria for discontinuance was low numbers of successful program completions. Despite these reductions, 88% of degree and certificate programs will remain intact and those programs represent 93% of the degrees and certificates conferred by the College over the past six years. In the end, these reductions will allow LBCC to direct more resources to courses and programs which serve the majority of our students and lead to increased career certificates, degrees, and transfer in high demand fields in our local economy.

The decision to discontinue these programs was difficult but necessary as we redesign our programs to focus on supporting changing regional needs with innovative responses to current and emerging regional economies. LBCC is in the process of a comprehensive assessment process to identify ways in which we can better support new and existing programs that are most relevant to our regional industry sectors. With the assistance of our Academic Senate leadership to complete the assessment process, LBCC will direct current and future resources towards industry clustered programs that train the 21st Century workforce for our region.

These changes also align with the Board of Trustees' goal that our CTE programs and WFD activities are linked and align with regional industry sector needs. For instance, LBCC will work to expand its training in the area of Alternative Fuels to support growing demand for technicians trained to service low emission vehicles. We will also move toward developing comprehensive industry skill certificates to meet current workforce demands while creating new hubs in emerging areas like Homeland & Cyber-Security.

Long Beach City College's success in providing students with opportunities for college success was evident when Senate Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg brought the California State Senate to Long Beach to learn about the Long Beach College Promise and our efforts to direct resources to career training and improved outcomes for all students. The community of Long Beach should be proud of this achievement.

Recently, LBCC was also the focus of a lengthy article by the trusted education policy newsletter, Ed Source, view here. The Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD) Board of Trustees is proud of the recognition the college has received and is committed to providing Long Beach with the high quality educational opportunities for all of its residents.

Finally, the LBCCD Board of Trustees takes very seriously its role as stewards of the Measure E funds that voters approved in 2002 and 2008. The LBCCD uses two independent audit firms to annually review all expenditures and the independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee reviews the audits and ensures that all expenditures are consistent with the uses approved by local voters. Facilities within the LBCCD are regularly repurposed to support the evolving educational mission of LBCC. New and existing programs will move into the facilities left vacant by program discontinuance.

Thankfully, it appears that California's budget is beginning to recover. The Board of Trustees looks forward to being able to focus on restoring access and growing new programs in coming years as the state begins to make a long overdue reinvestment in LBCC and other public education institutions.