The Guardsman The Truth Shall Make You Free
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www.th e guardsma n .co m
Framing Chinatown
Women's Teams Rise
DeMuynck Dominates
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City Budget Proposal Would Cut City College's IT Department Portal Free City Funding to Historic Low Eyes Overhaul A newly-submitted city budget document proposes cutting Free City funding to $6.8 million as the program's 10-year funding agreement continues to unravel.
By Marrion Cruz
By Daniela Villegas Jovel dvilleg4@mail.ccsf.edu
mcruz88@mail.ccsf.edu
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udget cuts to the Free City program are set to deepen, with a newly proposed city budget allocating $6.8 million to the program, less than half the funding it received two years ago. During the groundbreaking of the Diego Rivera Performing Arts Center, Madison Raasch, a political science student and staff member at the college's Women's Resource Center, disrupted Mayor Daniel Lurie's speech to bring the cuts to center stage. “No major news outlets are talking about these massive cuts, and the time we have to ensure full funding is coming to a close this summer,” Raasch said. She received a written warning for the disruption.
Following Up On Feb. 23, the Department of Children, Youth, and Families submitted its proposed budget to the mayor's office, allocating $6.8 million to Free City for FY 2026-27 — a cut made, the document states, “per the Mayor's GFS cut instructions.” The FY 2027-28 projection offers little relief, with the same amount set aside. Those numbers represent a collapse from the program's recent funding peak. In FY 2023-24, the city contributed $18.9 million to Free City. This was above the baseline set by a 2019 Memorandum of Understanding between former Mayor London Breed and Supervisor Gordon Mar, which committed the city to $15 million annually through 2029. FREE CITY continued on page 3
and Smart Classrooms
Illustration by Cindy Chan/The Guardsman
ity College's Information Technology Department, long described as under-staffed, now says it is operating with a fuller roster as it pushes forward on multiple modernization projects, including a planned overhaul of the student-facing RAM Portal. The department's IT staff now totals almost 40 employees, according to the department's org chart. One major effort is underway at the Mission Center, where the department is launching a Smart Classroom initiative aimed at upgrading classroom technology with new audio-visual equipment and teaching tools. Patrick Ekoue-Totou, the college's chief technology officer, is heading the college's IT projects. As colleges nationwide rethink student-facing systems, some have adopted third-party “engagement hub” platforms meant to consolidate campus services into a single digital entry point. Pathify, one vendor in that space, argues that “disconnected systems make for disconnected experiences,” a problem it says unified portals are designed to reduce. In a 2023 webinar, Pathify also described centralized access “makes it easier for students to stay on track and succeed.” Southwest Mississippi Community College, which announced it selected Pathify to modernize student-facing systems, described the goal as simplifying navigation for students.
City College Plans to Accept EBT, Timeline Unclear The rollout, backed by Student Affairs leadership, comes as student hunger and basic-needs strain remain a growing concern at City College. By Patricia Baldwin and Marrion Cruz byebyebaldwin@gmail.com,
mcruz88@mail.ccsf.edu
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or many City College students, food, transportation and time remain barriers, and on-campus EBT card payments for CalFresh-
eligible purchases access may reduce beginning in March, pending final “around 276,000 students attendone of them. approvals and operational readiness. ing a California community college The Off ice of the Vice Beneficiaries of public assistance use CalFresh,” according to the Chancellor announced in January programs in California receive ben- California Policy Lab, as cited that students who receive CalFresh, efits through an Electronic Benefits by KQED. California's version of the federal Transfer (EBT) card. But multiple studies and policy Supplemental Nutrition Assistance The change comes as colleges briefs have found that many foodProgram (SNAP), will be able to use across California face sustained insecure college students still don't their EBT cards to purchase eligible student hunger and uneven par- use benefits, often because they food items at campus cafeterias ticipation in CalFresh. Statewide, EBT continued on page 2
Illustration by Emily Yee/ The Guardsman