Special Report to the Public:
Geysil Arroyo
Trustee Geysil Arroyo reported that she attended the Citizens' Bond Oversight Committee (CBOC) meeting on September 8, and recognized all of the hard work going into the Measure HH bond program by both District staff and CBOC members, and she attended a Swing Left San Diego town hall meeting featuring Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera and Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe discussing the importance of sticking together in difficult times.
Marichu Magaña
Trustee Marichu Magaña reported that, like Trustee Craig Milgrim, she believes in the power of the vote. She attended the grand opening of the City College Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Connections Center on September 3, and recognized all the time and commitment that went into making that space happen.
Craig Milgrim
Trustee Craig Milgrim reported that he’ll participate in the Mesa College Pride Scholarship Program, which includes recruiting mentors for students in the program. He recognized the support staff of the Pride Center and thanked Vice President Larry Maxey and President Ashanti Hands for their support of the LGBTQIA+ community. He said that speaking out for social justice or justice of any kind will invariably cause discomfort in other communities, but that’s not a reason to not allow people to speak out. He said speaking up for human rights is not an option, it is a necessity. Trustee Milgrim said registering to vote and voting is one of the best ways to stand up, and reported that he has voted in every election and every race since he became eligible to vote.
Dr. Maria Nieto Senour
Trustee Maria Nieto Senour reported that on September 6, she attended the Pillars of the Community, which is organized by City College professor Kahlid Alexander. She said the event honored public defenders, and the keynote speaker was Michelle Alexander who wrote the book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness,” which discusses new ways people are being imprisoned. Trustee Senour said she believes it is important to do the sacred work promoting justice and to support the poorest among us.
Gregory Smith
Chancellor Gregory Smith said he is looking forward to fall forums at all colleges where he’ll share updates on our budget, bond projects, collective bargaining, legislative advocacy, and the District's fundraising campaign, while reserving as much time as possible for open discussion. He reported that the second districtwide Town Hall event will take place later this fall; and that fall campus board meetings are scheduled for October at City College and in November at Mesa College. He also thanked everyone who offered public comment during the meeting, noting that pursuing equity, inclusion, and belonging in a diverse society is complicated work that requires us to understand the lived experience, values, and perspectives of other community members. He reiterated that the commenters' voices mattered, and their concerns are important, and that they had been seen and heard today.
Chancellor Smith reported the District was notified on September 10 that the U.S. Department of Education would discontinue discretionary funding in all seven minority-serving institution programs authorized in Title III of the Higher Education Act. He said that the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) grant at City College and HSI STEM EXITO grant at Miramar College are discretionary grant funds impacted by this decision, and that while the notice did not include much detail, we assume at this time we will not receive 2025-2026 or 2026-2027 funds in those grants, which total nearly $2 million. He stressed that the District will continue to provide programs and services that are inclusive and benefit all students. He reported that the California Community Colleges Board of Governors will be presented with the CCC Chancellor’s Office budget requests for the 2026-2027 state budget at its meeting next week. Chancellor Smith recognized Magaly Flores, coordinator of the Undocumented Resource Center at City College and co-lead of the Region X Dreamer Resource Liaisons, who brought forward a proposal to increase Dreamer Liaisons Support Funds in that budget by $15 million ongoing to provide districts with adequate resources to hire full-time staff and expand resources for our immigrant communities; and also thanked Dean Lillian Garcia for her support. He provided updates on several bills, including: AB 323 (Fong) Strong Workforce Program, which was approved by the Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk where it is expected to be approved; AB 335 (Gipson) Black Serving Institutions Grant Program was held in the Assembly appropriations committee due to the budget impact; AB 648 (Zbur), which will exempt community college districts building affordable student or employee housing on district property from local zoning regulations, has been passed by the Senate and is headed to the Governor’s desk; AB 695 (Fong), which will allow community college students subject to immigration enforcement to continue paying resident enrollment fees was amended in the Senate; AB 766 (Sharp-Collins), which would require state agencies to develop and implement strategic plans to ensure equitable access and service and address identified disparities, was amended and approved by the Senate and will return to the Assembly for a final concurrence vote; AB 1035 (Gonzalez), held in the Assembly appropriations committee, would have expanded the California College Program grant program to include fee waivers for baccalaureate degree programs; AB 1400 (Soria), which would authorize a pilot baccalaureate degree in nursing program for up to 10 community colleges based on certain criteria, passed with unanimous approval in every vote, and will head to the Governor’s desk (he vetoed similar bills last year); AB 1433 (Sharp-Collins), which was held in the Assembly appropriations committee, would have established a definition for a noncredit college and noncredit education center and provided funding for noncredit institutions in several categorical programs; AB 629 (Ward), which the District jointly supported with SDUSD and increases the threshold for equipment inventory requirements from $500 to $1,500, was approved and signed by the Governor in late July; AB 1224 (Valencia), which reinstates COVID-era provisions that doubled the time a substitute teacher could stay in one classroom from 30 to 60 days, was passed by the Assembly and Senate and will be forwarded to the Governor; and SB 438 (Cabaldon), which was held in the Senate appropriations committee, would have reduced the minimum attendance time for a student enrolled in CCAP courses from 240 to 180 minutes to match requirements for early college and middle college high schools.
Yahir Melendez
Student Trustee Yahir Melendez reported that City College held a Student Organization Conference to support students looking to get involved with campus activities; Mesa College hosted a Black Student Success Fair to welcome back and connect students to resources; Miramar College held a welcome back mixer to support LGBTQIA+ students with networking opportunities; and College of Continuing Education provided students with leadership training opportunities during a retreat for Associated Students and opened the WellSDCCE mental health space on September 3, and the AS will host Constitution Day activities at Mid-City and Cesar Chavez campuses.
BOARD ACTIONS
At its regular meeting of September 11, 2025, which was conducted in-person, with online participation available, the Board of Trustees:
- Announced for Closed Session that the Board approved the termination of the employment of a classified employee at San Diego Community College District, as required under Section 88013(b) of the California Education Code; and rejected a Government Tort Claim.
- Heard public comment from Sheri “CoCo” Bazemore who addressed the Board on behalf of the Management Association; Daniel Villegas who shared his concerns about the colleges Basic Needs Centers; and from 14 of 25 speakers who were in attendance to support free speech. City College Academic Senate (AS) President Mona Alsoraimi-Espiritu reported that the AS recently met and is in discussion on two resolutions. She said there was a successful Club Rush Carnival held on campus and the highlight was President Ricky Shabazz’s participation in the dunk tank. She shared that she was also at the Board Meeting to discuss free speech issues pertaining to the conflict in Gaza. She read sections of a resolution that the City College Academic Senate had passed in 2024 pertaining to the topic and asked the District to reconsider its position. Mesa College Academic Senate President Mary Gwin reported that the campus is thriving with strong enrollment and excellent students. The AS’s first meeting will be on September 15, and they are ready to begin their work. She called attention to the Clothes Story exhibit at the Mesa Gallery which runs through October 16. She said that among the AS’s concerns is that faculty salaries are not competitive with other community colleges in the region, which she said has hurt the diversity of hiring pools and ultimately student equity. She also shared concerns about the request for contract requirements including insurance requirements. Miramar College Academic Senate President Rodrigo Gomez provided comments via Zoom having just returned from the California Community Colleges Futures Summit. He said the next AS meeting is on September 16 with several updates planned. He closed by acknowledging the leadership of Veronica Hartmann and other senators for their service.
- Appointed Trustees Geysil Arroyo, Marichu Magaña, and Maria Nieto Senour as the Board’s voting delegates to the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Leadership Congress on October 22-25, 2025, and nominated members for election to the ACCT Board of Directors, including Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg, Kern Community College District, CA, for Regional Director; Andra Hoffman, Los Angeles Community College District, CA; Robert Proctor, Lansing Community College, MI; and Jermaine Reed, Metropolitan Community College, MO for Director-At-Large.
- Adopted resolutions recognizing September 15 to October 15, 2025, as National Hispanic Heritage month; recognizing October 2025 as Domestic Violence Awareness Month, Filipino-American History Month, and National Disability Employment Awareness Month; in support of the City of San Diego’s proposed Due Process and Safety Ordinance; and to approve a Gann Appropriation limit equal to the appropriations subject-to limit for 2025-2026.
- Conducted a public hearing and approved the SDCCD 2025-2026 Adopted Budget following a presentation from Vice Chancellor Daniel Troy. The total budget is $2,134,761,199, including $ 663,275,180 in General Fund Unrestricted and Restricted operational funds. Board members expressed appreciation for the fact that planned budget adjustments ensure the budget is balanced. The budget had been thoroughly reviewed by the Board’s Budget Study and Audit Committee (Trustees Magaña and Milgrim).
- Authorized an agreement with healthcare agencies for use of clinical facilities by students enrolled in District health occupation programs; and the designation of September 17, 2025, as Constitution Day at City, Mesa, Miramar, and Continuing Education colleges.
- Authorized study abroad programs for Mesa College to Buenos Aires, Argentina in January 2026 and to Madrid, Spain in June-July 2026.
- Adopted the 2025-2026 memorandum of understanding with Altus Affiliated Schools (The Charter School of San Diego) to continue the dual enrollment agreement with Miramar College.
- Accepted grants from Chico State Enterprises for the Basic Needs Center CalFresh Outreach at City College; from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a Biomedical Research and Research Training grant at UC San Diego and City College; and from the California Colleges for International Education for a study abroad awareness campaign districtwide.
- Authorized agreements with the Foundation for Grossmont-Cuyamaca Colleges for the Regional Strong Workforce Program (SWP) CTE Research Investment, and with
California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) to provide the Academy Instructor Certification Course (AICC) at Miramar College.
Awarded bids for work category 08C (Glass and Glazing) for the ECC Theatre renovation
project to Centex Glazing; and for 14A (Platform Lift) to Arrow Lift; and for the
City College – Career Services Center Remodel Project to All Source Company Building
Group, Inc.
- Awarded Stage 2 of the ECC Full-Building Seismic Rehabilitation to Master Agreement with Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson, Inc.; a cooperative agreement to replace New Boilers and Rebuild the Air Handling Units at the City College LRC Building to ACCO Engineered Services; and a cooperative agreement for Districtwide Hazardous and Medical Waste to Clean Harbors.
- Awarded design build contracts for the City College A Building Expansion Project to Rudolph & Sletten, Inc.; for the City College Saville Theatre Replacement Project to Sundt Construction; for the Mesa College Performing Arts Center/Administration Project to PCL Construction Services, Inc.; for the Mesa College Sports and Kinesiology Sciences Project to C.W. Driver LLC; for the Miramar College Performing Arts Center and English/Gallery Building Project to BNBuilders; for the Miramar College Montgomery Field Aviation Instructional Center Project to Harper Construction Company, Inc.; for the Miramar College Early Education Center Project to Flint Design Build LLC dba FLINT; and for the College of Continuing Education West City Expansion Project to DPR Construction, A General Partnership.
- Heard an update on the Emergency Action taken pursuant to PCC 22050 to repair of water damage caused by a clogged sewer system on the fourth floor of the LRC Building at Mesa College; and to repair and replace fencing, landscaping and a greenhouse near the Harry West Gym at City College.
- Approved purchase orders and contracts completed during August 2025; new or revised courses and programs; and various personnel actions.