Faced with Dire Budget Situation, SBCC Officials Explore Their Options - Laura Cooper, Noozhawk

As a week of budget presentations drew to a close Friday, about 50 people packed into a humanities lecture classroom to hear where Santa Barbara City College will be financially in the upcoming school year. The big question mark is just how much the college will have to cut. Right now, the answer ranges anywhere from $5.6 million to $14.6 million, depending on Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget and whether his tax initiative passes in the fall. The state has put higher education on a difficult timeline. The governor’s May revised budget hasn’t even come out yet, and SBCC begins priority registration for its fall classes next week. Students will be enrolled before the college knows how much to axe, pushing the majority of the cuts down the road.