Save Downtown Campus Rallying Cry Dominates CCSF Board Meeting

Students, faculty and community members packed the April 23 board meeting to demand the reversal of a decision to halt instruction at City College's Downtown Campus — a fight that has now consumed four consecutive meetings without the board formally taking up the issue. Meanwhile, trustees confronted a troubling fiscal picture: millions in restricted state funds sitting unspent while city funding for the Free City tuition program slides toward unsustainability.

• Eight public speakers demand board reverse Downtown Campus closure, warning that past campus shutdowns caused 80% student attrition

• AFT 2121 reports district rejected nearly all of its Downtown bargaining proposals, calling the process "performative"

• Board passes resolution insisting any revised Free City MOU preserve long-term funding as city cuts threaten to slash support from $16M to $6.8M

• Former Supervisor Gordon Mar suggests a ballot measure to guarantee Free City funding if the city keeps walking back commitments

• College has spent only 44% of prior-year restricted funds, prompting trustee outrage and fears of state clawback

• Reserve policy BP 8.01 approved unanimously, setting an 8.35% floor and 16.7% ceiling trigger

• Pilot climate survey finds 14% of students experience racial tension, 40% of it in classrooms

For the fourth consecutive meeting, the fight over the Downtown Campus consumed the room — and for the fourth consecutive time, the board could not formally discuss it because it was not on the agenda.