Delta board discusses Galt campus alternatives

It is not likely that San Joaquin Delta College can garner state approval for a North County campus — at least, that is what Delta College Superintendent and President Dr. Kathy Hart presented to the Board of Trustees on Tuesday.

Hart recommended that the board should abandon creating a North County campus at this time and should instead explore other options, which would provide day classes for students in the northern part of the district and show whether there is a need for a center there.

“In this enrollment climate, I don’t think the college has any business spending $25 million for an ag campus and to rely on another bond to build it,” Hart said.

Potential Liberty Road site

At the Nov. 15 board meeting, the North County Center Project team updated the board on results of the feasibility study of the Liberty Road property between Highway 99 and Lower Sacramento Road and reported that it was feasible to build a center there.

The plan would be to expand the agriculture program into that site, as well as providing general education and classes in business, logistics and health sciences.

However, the site had some environmental concerns as portions of the property are prone to flooding and contain protected species, such as fairy shrimp, which would be costly to mitigate. Even so, the team recommended to the board that they authorize work to begin on the initial site planning.

Originally, the board was to come to a vote at Tuesday’s meeting, but Hart chose to take the vote off the agenda. The newest board trustee, Carlos Huerta, would be sworn in at that meeting and the board has been divided on this issue. She also stated extra care should be taken before the college commits to building something.

“There’s no need to make a decision tonight,” she said.

Concerns in making a decision

Hart gave some background to her recommendation. The 2015 Master Plan for the colleges outlines a desire to rejuvenate the Stockton campus and reinvest in centers such as the Mountain House campus and a North County center. The college wishes to prioritize general education before considering any additional career technical education programs, she said.

Many stakeholders — city leaders, residents, educators and Delta College agriculture program staff — have also expressed wishes and concerns regarding the college’s next move on this issue, which Hart said are valid and need to be considered. Many such stakeholders, including Lodi Mayor Doug Kuehne, former Lodi Unified Superintendent Bill Huyett and Galt Joint Union High School District Superintendent Elizabeth Kaufman were present at the meeting, speaking during public comment.

Lodians believed that it was a mistake to build a campus on the border of two districts, as had been done with Mountain House, and there were greater opportunities to bring students in a Lodi center. Galt representatives highlighted the educational partnerships and opportunities afforded by building in their city.

Why a North County campus may not happen

Hart pointed out critical issues with bringing students to the center. Enrollment has not grown since the recession, both in the district and across the country. Attendance at the Mountain House campus has declined and students are taking fewer units on average making it difficult to gain the necessary additional fulltime students to fund a new campus.

The biggest concerns, however, are the potential costs of a North County center, and the fact that the California Community College’s Chancellor’s Office has made it more difficult to get new education centers approved. State approval requires a critical look at sites that lie on the borders of two districts, the average capacity needed for the campus has been increased and there can only be one site per 1,000 square miles. Delta College’s district covers 2,534 square miles and already has two sites, plus the Manteca Farm.

Of the Measure L funds allocated to the project, there is little more than $14 million left. In order to move forward on the project as proposed in November, the college would need more than $25 million to begin phase 0 and would likely have to pitch an $85.8 million bond just to cover phase 1 of development.

In a second option that Hart mentioned, the college could cut the costs of the project by instead excluding the animal and crop science programs from the center (an estimated cost of $3 million for phases 0 and 1), expanding operations at the Manteca Farm and devoting remaining funds to needed projects in Stockton. Still, the college would need a bond to build permanent structures in final phases of a North County campus.

Hart recommends waiting on a new campus

The third option — Hart’s recommendation — advocated for holding off on building a North County campus indefinitely and reallocating those Measure L funds to reinvest in existing campuses. There are still ADA issues on the Stockton campus that need to be addressed, as well as IT infrastructure, roadways and an improved emergency notification system.

Hart also advocated for evaluating the Ag Program and potentially reinvesting in the Manteca Farm.

Galt’s high school district and the college are already in talks to use Estrellita High School, the former continuation school, as a location to offer day classes from Delta College. The Galt district is in the process of incorporating credit recovery back into it’s comprehensive high schools and planning to offer accelerated programs that allow students to take college classes early, Kaufman told the board.

Offering general education classes in Galt and Lodi would allow the college to gauge demand, Hart said, and build up enrollment, as was done before the construction of the Mountain House campus. For 20 years prior to its development, Tracy was offering Delta College classes and building up a student population, according to Trustee Theresa Brown who was in favor of holding off on the project.

Trustee Richard Vasquez was also reluctant to rush into a vote and even questioned whether Lodi should be considered part of the North County when talking about building a center.

Newly elected trustee Carlos Huerta asked for the college to look into exploring what students really need in terms of programs, while Catherine Mathis asked for the college to look again to see what site options the Lodi area may have.

Student representative Rafael Medina offered his own perspective, and said he preferred Hart’s recommendation because of an emphasis on building up general education classes.

“General education should be included in a campus because it’s the main thing we’re here for,” he said.

The board will meet again on Jan. 10, 2017 to determine if they will put the matter to vote at the Jan. 17 meeting.