Cuesta College board to consider big cuts amid budget problems - AnnMarie Cornejo, Tribune News

The Cuesta College Board of Trustees will be asked Wednesday to slash $2.9 million from the community college’s 2011-12 budget, impacting nearly 120 employees. And the cuts won’t stop there. An additional $1.3 million will also need to be cut from staff and operating costs — likely through furloughs or pay cuts. Cuesta College’s board of trustees on Wednesday approved for next academic year a $2.9 million budget cut — which will affect the jobs of about 120 employees. The board voted unanimously 4-0 — with trustee Gaye Galvan absent — to move forward with the proposed cuts. Starting July 1, 43 nonteaching Cuesta workers will have their hours permanently reduced and about 70 part-time faculty members will have their class loads reduced or eliminated. In addition, six people are being laid off — including two full-time workers. The college must cut nearly $5.3 million from its roughly $46 million 2011-12 general fund to account for anticipated state budget cuts and to eliminate an ongoing $950,000 deficit.