The chancellor, along with board members and other officials, must come up with a plan to cut $4.4 million from the district's $71 million budget for the current school year. District officials have until the March 6 board meeting to determine how to meet their share of the $280 million midyear statewide community college reductions that Gov. Gray Davis has proposed.

And that's not including the $15 million loss that the district could take for 2003-04 if the governor's additional community college budget reductions are passed.

West Valley College has already trimmed its spring class offerings by 233 sections, saving the school approximately $300,000.

"The cuts have been made all over and throughout the curriculum," said West Valley College President Marchelle Fox. Faculty took a look at graduation requirements and weeded out classes across all departments that were less than two years old or had lower enrollment.

Along with class selections, several of West Valley's "categorical programs" have been severely impacted. The school's Extended Opportunity Programs and Services department has been cut to the tune of $347,000 and as a result is no longer accepting new students.

"It basically is a program for students who are economically disadvantaged" and have faced other disadvantages, Fox said. The program, offered by the state, offers those students with support through counseling services, peer tutors and financial help.

"The services we provide for our students—money to purchase books, bus passes, gas cards and 'over and above' financial assistance—will be greatly reduced," wrote program director Nancy Romer in an email. "We are saddened by this situation and will endeavor to provide the best possible services for our students."

West Valley's Disabled Student Services has also been affected, with a funding loss of 3.66 percent this year and 43 percent next year. The program, which serves 700 students at the college, offers services such as interpretation for the deaf, Braille readers for the blind and testing for those with learning disabilities, Fox said.

"These programs were created to support those kinds of students who need more support than [the average person] would need," Fox said. "It's sad to me that the students who are being denied the most access are the most needy students."

The entire student body will be impacted by other categorical program reductions. Fox said the statewide Partnership for Excellence program, which encourages community college students to transfer to four-year colleges, has been cut by 45 percent. West Valley's matriculation program, which helps assess, orient and guide students, has also been impacted financially.

Arterberry received the proposed cuts from each college Feb. 10 and will work with the district's budget advisory subcommittee to work out the details of each. The group will present the proposal to the district's board of trustees on March 6.

"Then we'll start working on '03-04, which will be even worse," Arterberry said. In contrast to this year's $4.4 million, the district may have to reduce its budget by $15 million for next year—$6.9 million of which must be taken on by West Valley College.

That means one in five community college students will no longer be able to attend West Valley due to lack of funding. And the governor has proposed to increase community college fees, from $11 per unit to $24 per unit at West Valley, all of which will help pay off the state's deficit and none of which will go to the college to offset costs.

"This is significant. Very, very significant," Fox said, calling the $6.9 million a "hefty amount."

"We're going to try our darnedest not to make any personnel cuts. We'll be looking at reducing all of our operating costs," Fox said, through measures such as closing off entire buildings, saving on utilities bills and reducing summer programs.

"We're going to have to be cut. There's no doubt about that. The state is in a fiscal crisis," Arterberry said. "The concern is that we're taking more of the cuts than the other two higher education institutions [in California]."

According to the district, the governor is proposing disproportionate reductions in education. While the state could take away 2.6 percent of the money that it gives to the California State University (CSU) and University of California (UC) systems, community colleges may have to give up 11 percent of the funding they receive.

The district receives $3,800 per "full-time student equivalent," Arterberry said.

At that amount, "the community colleges already receive half the amount of funding per student as CSU and a third of UC," states a resolution opposing the proposed cuts. The 11 percent reduction "of $270 per student will prevent the economically disadvantaged students from obtaining a college degree," the resolution goes on to say.

This cut contributes to a growing gap between the haves and have-nots, Fox said. While most jobs in the area require a post-secondary education, "not everybody can get into a CSU or a UC" school, Fox said.

Community colleges offer educational opportunities to those who cannot afford to go to a UC or CSU school and those with families or jobs or those who are recent immigrants. Enrollment at West Valley and Mission has also gone up 10 percent due to unemployment in the area.

The proposed budget cuts eliminate those opportunities, Fox said. "The last thing I want to see is anybody not being able to support themselves or not being a productive citizen in Silicon Valley."