Supervisor Connie Chan held a hearing Wednesday where community members urged the Board of Supervisors to prevent Mayor Lurie from cutting a program by 30% that offers cash grants to low-income students through City College’s "Free City” program.

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s new budget proposal, due June 1, will include a 30% cut to “Free City Cash Grants,” a component of City College’s “Free City” program, as the Chronicle reports. The cash grants program provides low-income City College students with funds matching their $46-per-credit fees, which the state had already covered, for expenses like housing, food, and books.

Lurie’s proposed cuts, which would not impact the main Free City program, would reduce funding for cash grants from $9.3 million to $6.4 million. According to 48Hills, the cash grants program, which benefitted 6,000 low-income students last year, would violate a longstanding Memorandum of Understanding between the city and the school.

As SFist reported at the time, former Supervisor Jane Kim introduced the proposal to create the Free City program back in 2016, which was approved in February 2017 by former Mayor Ed Lee.

At the hearing Wednesday, dozens of students, alumni, and staff urged the Board of Supervisors Budget and Appropriations Committee to protect the full funding for the program, which has been under threat for at least the past two years.

“Free City is the reason I can afford to attend City College,” said Angelica Campos, a student-elected representative on the College’s Board of Trustees, speaking to 48 Hills. “I am working, studying, and building a life in San Francisco, and even small costs can decide whether I can stay enrolled or need to drop out. These cuts tell students like me that our education is optional. But my future is not optional.”

Much of the Budget and Appropriations Committee reportedly said at the hearing that they wanted to keep the full funding for the program, including committee chair Supervisor Connie Chan, as well as Supervisors Chyanne Chen and Matt Dorsey. Per 48 Hills, Chan is also a member of the Free City oversight committee and a former City College staff member.

Related: San Francisco City College Once Again In Trouble Over Its Financial Status

Image: CCSF