Next year’s proposed $83 billion state budget that lawmakers will vote on Monday contains $115 million for school construction and maintenance at Florida’s 28 state colleges.
However, none of that money is earmarked for Florida State College at Jacksonville, school president Cynthia Bioteau said.
“FSCJ had put in an $11 million request for a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math center for our downtown campus. Unfortunately, we did not make the list,” she said.
And, to make matters worse, Bioteau said the state is poised to eliminate nearly $3 million from the school’s operating budget. That would mean cutting 71 full-time and 17 part-time staff and faculty positions.
“We’re looking at nine advisor positions that will be cut that will affect about 3,600 students," she said. "We’re looking at 25 full-time faculty positions that will directly affect about 7,500 students next year in the classroom.”
And, going forward, Bioteau added, the school could even be forced to eliminate entire programs.
FSCJ has five campuses and around 50,000 full- and part-time students.
The college provides job certification courses and two- and four-year degrees in subjects ranging from education and public safety to biomedical science and logistics.
Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter @cydwjctnews
