​Tell the Board: Closing campuses now keeps our college from growing in the future!

We need to be ready for enrollment growth with a post-COVID recession, and the expansion of programs and classes with funding from CHEF and Schools and Communities First. Shrinking the college by permanently closing the Civic Center and Fort Mason campuses now will keep us from being able to serve more students in the future.

Before making these decisions for short term budget savings, the Board needs to take into account all of the financial consequences of these decisions, such as losing revenue from CCSF Extension classes. Furthermore, they could renegotiate the leases and most likely get more favorable terms. In March, SF voters approved $845 million for CCSF’s facility needs. It’s past time time for our 750 Eddy St. location to be seismically retrofitted. This would eliminate the need to pay for a Civic Center Campus lease altogether. It is incumbent on the Board to develop a concrete plan on how to preserve the programs and students at For Mason and Civic Center before making the decision. The mistakes of closing 750 Eddy and 33 Gough without careful forethought must not be repeated.

Being part of diverse communities throughout the city at our campuses makes CCSF beloved by students and relevant to all neighborhoods.

In addition to these proposed campus closures, we’ve also learned that the college has cancelled 100% of our American Sign Language Classes for Fall! This is in spite of the facts that ASL classes and waitlists fill up each semester, and that students from our program are in high demand, and can earn $65/hr as ASL interpreters immediately upon graduating. Our local schools, courts, and public events depend on City College’s wonderful ASL program to train interpreters, who serve as a crucial bridge between the hearing and deaf communities. ASL is also a magnet for the many high school students who enroll through the concurrent program. One semester of ASL satisfies two semesters of high school language courses. As well, ASL satisfies the language requirements for both the CSU and UC systems.

The Board will be discussing ending leases at Civic Center and Fort Mason in closed session at Thursday’s meeting – we urge all AFT 2121 members to submit public comment by 3:30pm this Thursday, 4/23 (250 words max to publiccomment@ccsf.edu) to let them know they need to slow their roll and think about the long term impacts to our college when they make decisions without taking time to consider the consequences.