Long Beach City College dramatically reduced its preliminary 2017-2018 $10.7 million budget deficit to $300,000 without layoffs or cuts to programs, according to representatives from the college.
The deficit was reduced through cuts in expenses and an aggressive enrollment push, officials said. In addition, a number of employees accepted the Supplemental Employee Retirement Plan (SERP) that the college offered last June, which allowed strategic reorganization of staff.
“The fact that Long Beach City College has been able to reduce $10.4 million from our deficit without layoffs or cuts to instructional programs is a tremendous accomplishment,” said LBCC Superintendent-President Reagan F. Romali. “This has been truly a team effort as our faculty and staff came together to find creative and alternative ways to reduce our deficit without any impact to our students.”
LBCC made an aggressive push to enroll additional students into the summer-session classes, which resulted in a 21-percent increase in full-time equivalent students compared to last year’s summer-session numbers. LBCC also provided a number of enrollment events to assist future and current LBCC students in preparation for the fall semester.
“I commend Superintendent-President Dr. Romali, District staff and Board colleagues in prioritizing fiscal responsibility and their willingness to make the tough decisions in decreasing this budget deficit,” said Long Beach Community College District Board of Trustees President Sunny Zia. “I look forward to supporting Dr. Romali and continuing our efforts to be on solid financial footing.”
Despite the reductions that began in spring 2018, student success continued to improve at LBCC, college officials said, adding that, in June 2018, 44 students graduated from LBCC with 4.0 GPA. This number is compared to 14 students in 2017 who achieved a perfect GPA.
Space is still available for new students at LBCC. Fall semester begins Aug. 27. There are also late-starting classes beginning Sept. 24 and Oct. 22.
