SALINAS, Calif. – Hartnell College Superintendent/President Dr. Willard Lewallen is speaking out against legislation that would require California community colleges to turn campus parking lots into sleeping quarters for homeless students.

Joining other state community college leaders who oppose the measure, Assembly Bill 302, Dr. Lewallen recommends that designated overnight parking areas be optional, not mandated, and come with extra funding for schools that decide to create them.

He acknowledged many students’ dire economic situation, both within Hartnell’s Salinas-area district and across the state, but Dr. Lewallen said AB 302 “does nothing to solve the basic-needs challenges our students face, nor does it provide for their safety.”

“California can do better than to simply offer our homeless community college students a parking lot,” he wrote in a June 27 letter to Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which has scheduled a July 9 hearing on the bill.

The Salinas-based college, serving about 17,000 students throughout the year, has sought to measure and address its students’ financial needs beyond tuition and books.

In a survey of Hartnell students in early 2018, 5 percent of those responding said they had lived in a housing shelter at some point, and 29 percent said they sometimes or often worried about having stable housing. The college has joined others across the state and nation that provide “pop-up pantries,” providing a monthly bag of grocery staples to needy students in a partnership with the Food Bank of Monterey County.

Dr. Lewallen also pointed out that the bill would not apply to either University of California or California State University campuses.

“AB 302 sends the message that parking lots are good enough for community college students,” he said in his letter.

It would perpetuate “structural inequities” in California’s higher education system, where community college students make up 75 percent of all those attending public post-secondary institutions yet receive less in per-student funding than those in the UC or CSU.

Introduced by 21st District Assembly member Marc Berman, of Palo Alto, AB 302 would require colleges to maintain and monitor an overnight parking area and provide accessible bathroom facilities.

As amended by the Assembly on March 25, the homeless-parking requirement would expire in December 2022. It also would exempt colleges that provide homeless students with either hotel vouchers or emergency grants to secure or keep housing. Colleges also would have to provide homeless students with rapid re-housing referral services.

Dr. Lewallen said the bill would increase insurance liability for districts and “create a new and costly mandate while districts are already facing tightening budgets and increased costs.” He noted such safety concerns as risk of carbon monoxide poisoning from sleeping in vehicles and the risk that homeless students could fall victim to theft or sexual assault.

The cost of safety monitoring, restrooms, liability insurance, student verification and other expenses associated with AB 302 are estimated to total $68.9 million a year, according to the Community College League of California.

“The Hartnell Community College District does not have personnel who have the appropriate training and expertise to address the complex issues and challenges surrounding student homelessness,” Dr. Lewallen wrote in his letter to Jackson, “and the district does not have the resources to adequately address student homelessness.

“For our colleges, the resources expended to provide ongoing security monitoring and sanitation facilities are resources that could be used to support student financial aid, housing partnerships, emergency grants to students or student success programs that enable individuals to enter the workforce to make a living wage.”