College Of The Desert Cuts Classes

PALM DESERT – College of the Desert officials are cutting classes and jobs in anticipation of losing $4.2million in state funding.School administratorsannounced cuts for a total of50 classes for the Fall semester.

Students were told through email and the school website Thursday.Most of the classes that got pulled were ones that were offeredseveral times a week orunpopular classes.Ifa classwas needed to graduate, it was left on the schedule

Thirty to 40part-time teachers who only teach two classes a semester were told they’ll only be teaching one.School officials say canceling 50 classeswill save them about $150,000 this semester alone.They have also decided to cancel 120 classes from the Spring 2010 schedule and the decision has been made to cancelWinter intersession and most of the 2010 summer schedule.

School officials say College of the Desertis not in as bad of shape as other schools because the school hasseveral million dollars in reserve.Normally, the school will cut 30 classes after the semester starts because of low attendance.The decision to cut 50 classes before school starts comes as the state budget is likely to take away millions from the college.