At tomorrow afternoon’s meeting of the College of the Redwoods Board of Trustees, CR President/Superintendent Kathy Smith will recommend suspending all operations at both the Mendocino Coast campus and the Garberville instructional site starting this fall.

It’s a discussion-only item, meaning no action will be taken Tuesday. But it’s a serious proposal designed to address the financial crisis at the beleaguered community college. Cuts in state funding and declining attendance have contributed to the school’s money troubles, according to the board packet for Tuesday’s meeting. 

The enrollment drop has been caused by a number of factors, including reduced class offerings, struggling local industries, accreditation trouble and aging populations on the North Coast. The state has deemphasized lifelong learning in favor of basic skills, transfer courses and career technical education, so there are a lot fewer adults taking art and P.E. classes for personal betterment. 

CR’s Mendo campus has long run at a financial loss. Even with these challenges, people in Mendo are, understandably, none too happy about the proposal. In fact, they sound pretty fed up with CR, period.

Mendocino County Supervisor Dan Gjerde posted a message to Facebook this morning saying “unequivocally” that residents down that-a-way are “dismayed by the management” of the campus in recent years. Frustration permeates this story in the Fort Bragg Advocate-News. And that paper’s editorial on the matter, which doesn’t appear to be available online, sounds downright mournful.

“It will be a sad, even tragic, day in our history should this proposal come to pass,” the editorial reads. “The thousands of people who successfully pursued the vision of a local college can rightfully feel betrayed.” 

While Smith is proposing a (hopefully) temporary shutdown, the Fort Bragg community is looking to dump CR entirely and align itself with another school, possibly Ukiah’s Mendocino College, according to Gjerde. The supervisor expresses concern about leasing out campus space, which CR has been doing for awhile. Three Rivers Charter School is located on the Mendo campus, for example, and CR spokesman Paul DeMark says other potential lessors have been contacted and have expressed interest.

CR board of trustees meetings are open to the public. Tomorrow’s starts at 1 p.m. in the new Performing Arts Theater at the Eureka main campus. If you can’t make it there in person, you can watch it online at redwoods.edu/_livestream.