Chancellor Goldsmith's Remarks - October 7, 2025

Good evening, everyone.

It’s wonderful to see our board, our colleagues, and so many members of our community gathered here tonight. As we’re still at the beginning of the academic year, it’s really been, as I have gone around the district, being able to see the remarkable amount of energy around our campuses. Our campuses are full, our programs are strong, and the services that our students are getting and the education is palpable when you walk on to any of our colleges or centers.

I want to take a few minutes to speak about the strength of our district and how that strength allows us to both dream big and plan wisely.

When this board set aside reserve funds, it wasn’t a small decision. In fact it was a very powerful decision and it was an act of foresight. I want to thank the Board for recognizing that while the future always brings opportunity, it can also bring uncertainty, particularly now as we know that federal discussions continue about potential changes to education funding both at the State and federal levels.

However, because of your prudence, we are not scrambling. We are steady and we can weather the storm where some of our colleagues across the state might not be able to.

It’s worth remembering and noting that in our State and not so far away, some colleges are already facing budget cuts, layoffs, and reductions. When they get their drawbacks from federal grants, they are really feeling the pain and most importantly, their students are. I want to thank this Board for working with me to be able to set aside some dollars to be able to avoid that. Why?

Because we made thoughtful, sometimes tough, choices years ago, and those choices are serving us well today.

Now, there has been some chatter, much of it from people who don’t have the full picture, suggesting that if we have reserves, we must be hiding something. Let me say this clearly and simply: there is a world of difference between hiding resources and protecting them.

Our responsibility as leaders is not to spend every dollar as soon as we have it, but to ensure that every dollar can keep doing good for years to come, for students, for employees, and for our communities in which we serve. That’s what true stewardship looks like. I want to thank the Board for continuing with that philosophy.

And it’s because of that stewardship, tonight we were able to bring forward the items that reflect our values. Being able to have a stipend for the Classified, Confidential and Police recognizes that the cost of living has gone up: food, housing, fuel, everything. This board didn’t wait to be asked to act. Let me say that again, this Board did not wait to be asked. You led. You led in a way that supported our employees in a tangible and responsible way while maintaining the financial stability that keeps our district strong. That’s the balance that defines us, our care and our prudence and working hand in hand.

I also want to acknowledge that leadership, especially in times of challenge, often draws criticism. Some of it is thoughtful and some of it is constructive. Some of it, unfortunately, is not. When people resort to tearing people down rather than lifting students up, they reveal more about their motives than they do our work.

The truth is, no one leading a district through a complex landscape of funding shifts, policy shifts, negotiations, and post-pandemic realities can do so without making some hard choices. And the good news is, despite this noise, we are moving forward. We may not always agree, but we will continue to try to find common ground and move forward.

Our enrollment is surging.

Our programs are expanding.

Our partnerships with business, labor, and community organizations are growing.

And most importantly, our students are achieving.

So tonight, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude for this board for its steady hand, to our faculty, the ones I agree with, the ones I don’t agree with, to all of you, I want to say thank you for your work and dedication to the jobs in which you entered because you wanted to make a life better through education. To our classified professionals for always showing up, their daily commitment to our students have been remarkable. I want to thank the leadership of CSEA and SCFT for coming to the table and negotiating in good faith. To our students and our student trustee, I want to thank you for being partners in your future. To the community for believing in the promise of our colleges.

We are, without question, rooted in the values of access, opportunity, and service.

And together, we are rising toward an even stronger, more resilient, more unified future for our students and communities we serve. Even though there’s turbulence, we are moving forward.