City College considers closing campuses

The struggle is not over yet for City College of San Francisco.

Back in July, CCSF was served with an eight-day notice from the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community Colleges to prove its worth or be forced to close.

Now the college is cooking up new plans to save itself, including shutting down auxiliary campuses.

While the college and its nine campuses managed to stay afloat, the commission gave it until Oct. 15 to produce a report creating viable solutions for the dozen or so problems it found with the institution.

The report details measures that have already been put into practice, but also depict an arduous road ahead for the state’s largest community college. The final verdict on the 10-campus institution will be made in June.

The most immediate concern, however, is on the table for the college Thursday. CCSF will decide if its Castro campus — at Everett Middle School — and Presidio learning center will be given the boot.

Another option includes whether or not the college will basically restructure its entire district to give its struggling academics a fighting chance.

It’s a tough decision that Chris Jackson, trustee, told The Ex could rob communities of educational resources:

“Closing campuses might have unintended consequences. It could be disenfranchising the community who can make use of it, and could lose state funding. I think we should think long and hard at closures.”

The college already designated a group to each of the 14 recommendations made by the accreditation committee and cut some administrators. Finally.

Before the turmoil with the accreditation committee, the college asked its finances be reviewed by the Financial Crisis and Management Assistance Team. Turns out, it doesn’t think the college is in good shape either. It issued 45 recommendations, making the accreditation committee look like the nice guys.

The accreditation report for CCSF is available on City College’s website.