PORT ANGELES — The $28.5 million error by the state’s Office of Financial Management that could end up costing Peninsula College $339,000 likely won’t be rectified in Gov. Jay Inslee’s supplemental budget that is due Dec. 20, President Suzy Ames told the Board of Trustees.
In August, OFM informed the state Board for Community and Technical Colleges it had inadvertently duplicated a $28.5 million appropriation. It wanted all of the money back, which meant each of the 34 schools in the system, including Peninsula College, would have to return its share.
“This is not a surprise,” Ames said at Board of Trustees’ meeting Tuesday. “We haven’t gotten any indications from OFM since we learned about this two months ago that they are sympathetic to the fact that they made a mistake.”
It will now be up to the Legislature in January to rectify the error by returning the money in a second supplemental budget.
“We’ll know very soon if we’re successful at least getting the first round of repayment negated,” she said.
“If we fail in this attempt, Peninsula College will have to write a $339,000 check to the state this year that is unbudgeted.”
Although the amount is just 1 percent of the college’s $30 million budget, Ames said the funds are critical to its mission.
“We are doing really well financially, but we need to hire people and do things with that money to meet the student demand that we’re facing,” she said.
At their next meeting on Dec. 17, trustees will vote on a proposal that would grant Ames the authority to increase aid to student-athletes.
As it stands, student-athletes competing in SBCTC schools like Peninsula College receive waivers of up to 25 percent of the cost of 15 credits of in-state tuition. In August, the SBCTC authorized schools to waive up to 100 percent of tuition beginning with fall quarter in 2025.
Vice President of Student Services Krista Francis said the change was seen as necessary to keep Washington schools like Peninsula College competitive within the Northwest Athletic Conference and nationally.
Oregon community colleges that compete in the NWAC, for example, provide 100 percent tuition waivers.
The aid also would help ease the financial burden many student-athletes face.
“Our student-athletes attend full-time, they are very active in student life, they get very high GPAs and they’re a critical part of our college culture,” Ames said. “Many of them take advantage of our food pantry and the Port Angeles Food Bank. They are just scraping by to have this athletic experience at the college.”
While the SBCTC’s larger schools could afford to start offering students full tuition waivers right away, Ames said Peninsula College would take a “slow, methodical approach” to increasing support that would be set annually and based on its budget.
There are currently 38 student-athletes who receive the 25 percent tuition waiver.
Meanwhile, the college’s men’s and women’s soccer teams were recognized for winning their respective NWAC titles. The women completed their undefeated season with a 1-0 win over Bellevue College for their sixth conference championship, while the men beat Clark College 3-0 for their first back-to-back titles since 2012-2013.
Trustees unanimously approved emeritus status for former history instructor Michael Cassella-Blackburn and emerita status for former Peninsula College Foundation Executive Director Getta Rogers. Mike Edwards, who retired after 23 years as a maintenance mechanic, received meritorious status for his contributions to the college.
Trustee meetings usually are held in person, but Tuesday’s moved to a Zoom-only format because of the anticipated windstorm that could have made it unsafe for some to attend in person.
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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
