There won’t be a low-income student housing project coming to College of the Canyons, but college officials are looking at ways to support students who may need help with their living situations.  At Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Santa Clarita Community College District board of trustees, which oversees COC, a resolution was approved to return $61.8 million in state funding for a low-income student housing project, with college officials saying it would be about $5 million short of what it would initially cost to fulfill the project.  That extra $5 million would have come out of the district’s general fund, a move that would potentially hurt its chances of staying above the $16.7 million reserve budget benchmark that the state is pushing for, according to David Andrus, interim president of the college.  “This is not an easy decision emotionally, OK, but intellectually and fiscally, it is an easy recommendation to the board,” Andrus said.  The resolution was approved 3-0, with board member Sebastian Cazares, a former COC student, choosing to abstain, and Sanjana Sudhir, the student trustee, voting against it. Her vote is seen as advisory and does not count toward the official tally, according to Eric Harnish, spokesman for the college.  Sudhir said there are thousands of students who are either homeless or come from other countries who would benefit from this sort of project, which was slated to provide 100 units and 209 beds in a dorm built on what is now parking lot 6.  “Student housing is such a vital cause that several organizations, including (Associated Student Government) and the Statewide Student Senate, have supported currently,” Sudhir said. “I will be frank, this frustrates me that the students are not being recognized or appreciated. The board should be trying to help the students in any way, shape or form, and this resolution does not try to solve the student housing crisis.”  The college applied for and was awarded the funds via the Affordable Student Housing Grant, becoming one of 13 community colleges across California to be part of what was initially billed as the first phase of low-income student housing projects. That funding was later taken back temporarily, according to the resolution, and then restructured from a grant to lease-revenue bonds.  Those bonds would have required the Takeda Science Center and the Student Service Learning Resource Center, both located at the college’s Canyon Country campus, to be put up as collateral, which Andrus said “isn’t something that we’re very interested in.”  In response to questions about other colleges going through with such a project while COC is electing not to, Jasmine Ruys, assistant superintendent of student services, said the other 12 participants are having the same discussions. Those that are looking at moving forward with the project have infrastructure already in place that would offset some of the negative costs.  Ruys said there are already for-profit dorms — the low-income student housing would not provide much profit, even if at capacity, according to college officials — at places such as Santa Rosa Junior College and Napa Valley College that provide enough revenue to offset any potential losses incurred with the low-income housing.  Other colleges are looking at descoping the project or using their foundations to help offset costs, Ruys said, but COC is not currently equipped to use either of those two options.  She added, in response to Sudhir, that international students would not qualify for the project as they do not qualify for financial aid.  Questions were also raised about the timing and if the college could afford to wait a little bit longer to try to figure out a way to make the project work, but Andrus said the state is looking “to hear from everybody right in the in the immediate timeline.”  Andrus added that the college will keep the interest accrued on the project, which stands at just under $3.5 million to date.  When Ruys presented to the board the fiscal analysis of the project at a recent meeting, she said the college would likely bring in less than $10,000 per year from it. That included assumptions of a 5% market vacancy and four free beds for resident advisors, as well as regular repairs and maintenance.  The project would have been set to be completed by the fall of 2027, and the first tenants would have moved in by 2028.  Ultimately, Andrus said the college could be negatively affecting students in other areas by setting aside a substantial portion of the general fund for a project that the college may lose money on anyway.  Other options  While the low-income student housing is no longer being looked at, there was talk during that discussion of how else COC can help students with housing.  Board member Jerry Danielsen asked if general fund money, which would have been used for the project anyway, could be used to help students subsidize their housing.  Ruys said she would have to check with the state on if that is allowable, as it could be construed as a gift of public funds. She did say that the COC Foundation does not have that restriction, and grants could also be applied for by students who qualify.  Another option that Ruys presented was to work with California Institute of the Arts, which is currently exploring expanding its dorms. Conversations have been held internally about partnering with CalArts to see if COC students can potentially use those once they are built.  Ruys said the low end of rent in the Santa Clarita Valley is around $1,800, and while that is much more than the $700 rent that the low-income housing would have been, the CalArts dorms or possible subsidies from the state or the foundation could make it closer to the low-income pricing.  “I think we just owe it to them to try as hard as we can,” Danielsen said.  The post COC declines student housing funds, exploring other options  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.