Schools
Protest and Patience Pays Off for Cerritos College Students, Classes Added
Cerritos College adds courses to the summer school schedule after faculty and students protest Board of Trustees meeting.
Cerritos College has added 49 courses to its summer school schedule of classes due to overwhelming student concern that led to a student and faculty protest of the Board of Trustees meeting on May 18th.
The 49 courses are estimated to accommodate 1,700 extra students this summer. Registration began yesterday on Friday, June 10 and will likely fill up soon. The cost of this extended summer schedule for Cerritos College will be about $300,000, according to Board of Trustees President Tom Jackson.
Last month students became infuriated when they found out that the schedule for summer courses was slashed from the 685 courses in 2010 to just over 200 courses for this summer. The students took to social media (Facebook) in an effort they called “Save Summer School.”
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Many of the students were concerned that without the regular amount of summer courses they would have to wait an extra semester or even a year to transfer to a university.
After protesting to the Board, the students were visibly frustrated and felt that they hadn’t got through to them and that likely, nothing would be done.
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“Anything the students say gets our attention,” said Jackson.
The 49 courses is not the 485 courses or so that the students were demanding but it is an addition of about 25% from what the students were expecting from the summer schedule. There are still talks about a further extension of classes, but the reality of that extension is unlikely.
“We knew the students needed more classes,” said Coordinator of Media Relations Aya Abelon. “Since the protest and the May revise, the College was able to extend summer school because serving the students is our priority.”
Summer may have just gotten a bit sweeter for students at Cerritos College, but the feeling may be short lived. With the State of California struggling to balance the budget and the ever-growing fear of more cuts, Cerritos College -- like many other schools -- are facing a similar dilemma of more students and less budget.
“We still face $4.5 million in budget cuts for next year, let’s not forget that,” president Jackson said.