College Panel Debates Plan to Cut Classes : Finances: Students plead with trustees to look for savings in other areas. About 300 courses are at stake.

Hundreds of students, teachers and staff packed a meeting of the Ventura County Community College District late Tuesday as trustees debated whether to eliminate about 300 classes at Moorpark, Oxnard and Ventura colleges to save money.

Before the meeting, several protesters staged a mock funeral for higher education, propping a 6-foot-long black wooden coffin with the inscription “Education R.I.P. 1993” near the stage where the trustees sat.

“Higher education is dying,” said Ventura College student Lorraine Freeman. “It’s being dismantled. It’s obviously a low priority in the state.”

In passionate appeals to the five-member board, some students argued that trustees should search for other ways to cut before eliminating classes. Many sharply criticized Gov. Pete Wilson’s proposal to increase fees to $30 a unit next school year.

“I sympathize with those students,” board President Gregory P. Cole said before the meeting. “The fact is, there’s not enough money. We have to downsize our colleges.”

Nearly 500 students, faculty members and staff packed Ventura College Theatre, many to protest the cuts.

College officials said they would try to target classes that have low enrollment, but would keep classes required for students transferring to four-year universities. The cuts would save the district $600,000 in next year’s estimated $60.3-million budget, officials said. No decisions have been made on which classes would be dropped.

Summer classes at Moorpark and Ventura colleges would be especially affected, administrators said. Oxnard’s summer schedule is already planned.

Trustees said the cuts are necessary because enrollment dropped about 5% this semester. College officials said higher fees, which rose from $6 a unit to $10 a unit this semester, have driven away students. Students with bachelor’s degrees, who also had been charged $6 a unit, began paying $50 a unit this semester.

The three colleges offer more than 8,000 classes a year, and slicing 300 classes would mean about 3%, trustee Karen Boone said. “It’s a small fraction of what we offer,” she said in an interview before the meeting.

But students protesting the class cuts said any reductions would be detrimental to their education. Some students said they are worried about not getting the classes they need to transfer, or having to delay their transfer plans. Other students are anticipating enrollment problems for popular classes.

About 30 students and faculty members waved signs, and marched outside the theater before the trustees’ meeting Tuesday.

Last month, administrators were ready to cut as many as 400 classes, but were stopped by trustees reacting to student protests. Trustees directed college officials to justify any class cuts before proposing them again.

“We weren’t given any information,” said Boone, who supports the administration’s efforts to trim the budget.

Students, faculty members and staff jammed Tuesday’s meeting to speak about the proposal. The boisterous meeting was filled with passionate appeals from students who said the trustees would be failing their duty if they approved the plan.

Some faculty members also criticized the cuts, saying that reductions in management could also result in some savings. Many staff members, however, advocated the cost cuts, saying that further reductions in support services would not be possible.

Ventura College Academic Senate President Bill Robinson said in an interview, “I think most of the faculty have come to the realization that ultimately we will have to cut classes, but it should be done . . . while looking at other cuts in other areas, such as management.”

The five trustees all expressed regret, but said the decision was necessary to keep the district financially afloat.

“Students will have to take courses at less convenient times,” Trustee Timothy Hirschberg said in an interview before the meeting.

Trustee Pete Tafoya said he wants the three colleges to begin compiling waiting lists for classes that are under-enrolled. If a class is dropped but a sufficient number of students later ask for the course, the colleges should move quickly to reinstate that class, he said.

The trustees on Tuesday also approved a plan to offer early retirement incentives to some faculty members. The early retirement plan would save the district about $300,000 this year, said Jeff Marsee, vice chancellor of administrative services.

Marsee said he expects revenues from the state to decrease this year, which would mean cutting an additional $1.8 million from the district’s 1993-94 budget before June 30.

“We’re not out of the woods,” he said, noting that additional layoffs and reduced classes are a possibility next fiscal year. “We haven’t even started yet.”