Apr. 10—On Thursday, the Walla Walla Community College board of trustees voted 3-2 to adopt a motion that would close its Clarkston campus in June 2028, with a teach-out period for existing students, if the college does not succeed in developing new, significant and sustainable funding.
Trustee Tim Burt and Vice Chairperson Tara Leer voted against the motion. Chairperson Bill Warren, after a long pause following the other trustees’ split vote, joined Gustavo Reyna and Alejandra Davis in favor of the decision.
Trustees represent the different counties they live in. Leer lives in Asotin County, Warren in Columbia County, Burt in Garfield County, and both Reyna and Davis live in Walla Walla County due to it being a larger service district.
The motion, brought forward by Reyna, states that students will continue to be admitted to in-person, two-year programs through the fall of 2026.
It also directs the college’s president, Chad Hickox, to engage with community members, legislators and other stakeholders to explore other funding sources to sustain the WWCC’s physical presence in Clarkston.
The move comes following news earlier this year that the college would face a roughly $4.3 million budget shortfall in the next few years, at least $1.8 million of which needed to be cut in the coming fiscal year.
That deficit is the result of a change in Washington’s community college funding model, as well as rising personnel and operational costs, caps on tuition increases set by the state, and an existing structural budget deficit.
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Reyna said the decision was painful, and he knows any cuts will affect — and be unfair to — some families, students and staff members. WWCC said it anticipates some layoffs at both the Walla Walla and Clarkston campuses as part of the budget reductions.
Reyna said he also believes that continuing to run the Clarkston campus at a deficit would endanger the entire college’s ability to sustain itself.
“The tragedy is not lost to me, because I probably would not be here speaking to you had I not had that access (to affordable education),” he said.
Trustees Burt and Leer supported a measure to not make any cuts in the first year. Burt said he would support using reserve funding to buy time for the Clarkston campus to figure out how to be financially sustainable.
“I think it gives us a chance to evaluate,” Burt said. “I have the feeling we can pull this off.”
Leer also noted concern over whether the college could maintain its staffing if faculty knew their jobs could be in danger.
However, that move did not find support with the rest of the board. Davis said she felt the college could reinvent itself to be successful amid budget cuts, but needed to act quickly.
“I believe it’s time to start rethinking and being more critical in terms of initiatives, partnerships, new funding, all of that,” Davis said. “But that is a window of opportunity. It should not freeze us from making a decision.”
Clarkston employees and members of the public also spoke at the meeting, prior to the decision. Several cited concerns about a lack of clearly defined long-term plans to address the new funding challenges.
“I haven’t seen a five-year plan,” said former board of trustees member Don McQuary. “The decisions that have been made in the last five years have gotten you into this spot.”
Katie Peterson, a program manager at the Clarkston campus, said she felt it was more important now than ever to focus on the college’s mission of removing barriers to high-quality education to facilitate equitable learning and success.
“Yes, reductions are imminent, but we cannot move forward by focusing on reduction alone,” Peterson said. “A strategy centered solely on cuts will not position the college for recovery or growth.”
Some speakers also expressed frustration at what they saw as the board preemptively deciding to make cuts before it fully explored options for partnerships and funding through the community.
“We were given just over 30 days, not for a real process, not for brainstorming with the people who actually live and work in this district, but for a countdown, a deadline, a self-fulfilling prophecy shaped by the same leadership now presenting it as unavoidable,” said Debi Schoonover, a Clarkston campus nursing program specialist.
In a new release following the decision, president Hickox said the move was not the end of WWCC’s presence in the community.
“We remain committed to Clarkston and we will continue working alongside this community to support students, families, and the regional workforce,” he said.
WWCC Director of Marketing and Communications Rebecca Thorpe also said the college would work to define how education and workforce training will continue in the region.
That would include the exploration of online and hybrid programs, local partnerships for program delivery, and workforce training that is aligned with regional needs.
Sun may be contacted at rsun@lmtribune.com or on X @Rachel_M_Sun. This report is made in partnership with Northwest Public Broadcasting, the Lewiston Tribune and the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
