College District to Slash Classes, Cap Enrollment : Education: $6.5-million shortfall will force cuts at San Diego Community College campuses this fall.

For the first time in its history, the San Diego Community College District will turn away students this fall while cutting as many as 400 classes because of a budget shortfall, the district chancellor announced Thursday.

After three years of admitting thousands of students beyond its enrollment cap, the community college district says it expects to turn away at least 4,000 people in the fall, Chancellor Augustine Gallego told a group of students, faculty and administrators at Mesa College.

“Knowing that we are not going to get any relief next year, we are going to have to balance our budget this year . . .,” Gallego said.

The three campuses, which serve more than 105,000 students in the county, have since April 10 instituted a freeze on hiring and purchases. Starting May 1, the length of many adult education classes, such as English as a second language and vocational courses, will be reduced 12%, Gallego said.

The district is trying to come up with more than $3 million in savings before the end of the fiscal year June 30 and find another $3.5 million in cuts next fiscal year to offset a $6.5-million shortfall in the 1991-92 budget.

Reductions that could take place in the fall include cutting 400 of the district’s 5,000 classes and unspecified cuts in administration, Gallego said. Presidents and directors of each of the three main campuses--Mesa College, City College and Miramar College--have also been asked to identify 2.5% in cuts for the next two years.

The $6.5-million shortfall is a result of enrollment over each of the last three years that has exceeded what the state has been willing to pay for, Gallego said, noting that the figure does not include any cuts that Gov. Pete Wilson might make in next year’s budget.

Out of an equivalent of 37,500 full-time students the San Diego Community College District serves, the state allocates funds for only 35,400 of them, representing a loss of more than $3 million, Gallego said.

“We are simply going to have to stop admitting everyone, and I think the taxpayers will really need to assess very carefully the importance of what we are doing in community college campuses,” Gallego said.

The situation will worsen across the state as students at University of California and California State University campuses--facing increased fees and fewer classes--are driven to seek courses at community colleges, he said.

UC campuses have already voted to increase fees 40%, and Cal State fees will go up by 20% in reaction to Wilson’s budget proposal. San Diego State University has announced it also will cut 550 classes in the fall, while the fledgling Cal State San Marcos will be turning away students for the first time.

“My concern is that a disproportionate number of those who may be shut out of our colleges will be the ones who need education the most,” Gallego said. “Disadvantaged students may be shut out, or they may drop out because we do not have the resources to provide the support services they need to succeed in college.”

Sixty-one of the 71 community college districts in the state are operating above their enrollment cap, said Ann Reed of the state chancellor’s office.

“The large majority of the colleges and districts in the state have exceeded their cap, and we heard a collective scream during this academic year from districts saying we can’t do this anymore,” Reed said.

The reaction from the districts, which have a total of 1.5 million students, has been to defer maintenance projects in order to hire part-time teachers, cut summer classes to bolster course offerings during the normal academic year, and expand class sizes, Reed said.

The move by the San Diego Community College District to cut course offerings follows similar actions by districts in Los Angeles and Sacramento, but is the first by a district in San Diego County, Reed said.