Proposal: $250,000 for Jeffrey, budget cuts for SMC

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, the Board of Trustees will vote to provide Dr. Kathryn Jeffery with a post-retirement supplemental income plan and two paid sabbaticals amid budget cuts and faculty reductions. 

The Santa Monica College (SMC) Board of Trustees' meeting to amend President and Superintendent Dr. Kathryn Jeffrey’s Agreement to Employment is on Tuesday’s consent agenda. 

Measures in a consent agenda are typically non-controversial, routine and voted on as a block, unless a Trustee decides to highlight a specific item.  

If the amendment passes, Jeffrey will retire in December 2026 and leave SMC with a post-retirement supplemental income plan, funded by post-employer paid contributions, “equal to $25,000 for each full year of District service at the time of retirement” for a maximum of 10 years equally spread over five years, says Tuesday’s Board of Trustees meeting agenda.  

The agenda says the proposed amendment also includes two paid 30-day sabbaticals and “the same retiree medical benefits available to other academic retirees with 10 years of service, including payment of a CalPERS Supplemental Medicare Plan and dental and vision insurance.” 

Jeffrey started working at SMC in February 2016, according to SMC’s website, marking 10 years of service next year. The proposed amendment could potentially provide her with $50,000 per year for five years, totaling $250,000 — “in recognition of the below-market salary earned by the Superintendent/President,” said the agenda.   

Government Compensation in California, a website maintained by the state controller’s office, said Jeffrey earned $386,684 in 2024. According to Transparent California, the state’s largest database of public pay and retiree compensation, she received $362,681 in regular pay, $24,000 in “other pay” and $111,797 from employer cost of health and retirement benefits — totaling $498,478.

Of the 39 college districts that reported to the state controller's office, Jeffrey is the 20th highest-paid college employee, under the Los Angeles Pierce Community College President Aracely Aguiar, who made $388,011 and oversees nine different colleges.

The MIT Living Wage calculator estimates that a living wage for an adult with one child in L.A. County is $48.64 per hour, or $101,171 per year. Under the SMC Faculty Association’s 2024-2025 Full-Time Salary Schedule, a full-time professor in group one, the lowest pay grade, earns a living wage at 11 years of service, receiving a $102,032 salary. 

The Corsair reached out to multiple members of the Board of Trustees for comment, but as of publication, no one has replied.  

SMC’s Board of Trustees plans to vote on Jeffrey’s supplemental retirement plan at a time when the school has been implementing substantial budget cuts. As of September, the college has committed $8.6 million in budget actions, primarily through faculty reductions and a five percent cut to available classes and the counseling schedules, according to the 2025-2026 Proposed Adopted budget presentation.  

Even with $8.6 million saved, SMC still requires an additional $14.8 million in budget cuts to avoid a million-dollar deficit in next year’s fund balance, says the 2025-2026 Proposed Adopted Budget presentation. 

“We need substantial reductions, we need substantial budget actions — revenue, expenses, budget actions — and we don’t have time anymore to wait,” said Vice President of Business and Administration Chris Bonvenuto during the proposed adopted budget presentation at September’s Board of Trustees meeting.

Board of Trustees meetings are held on the first Tuesday of every month inside the SMC Board Room, located in the Business Building’s room 117. According to the agenda, individuals wishing to comment must submit a request to speak before the start of the public meeting. 

The proposed amendment — which includes a $250,000 supplemental income plan, two sabbaticals and retiree medical benefits — will be voted on during the Board of Trustees meeting on Oct. 7, at 5 p.m. The vote comes as SMC faces substantial budget cuts and the anniversary of Felicia Hudson’s on-campus murder.