Due to low enrollment and high costs, South Seattle College is weighing whether to close the Pastry and Baking Arts Program at the school.
The president was expected to officially decide on Wednesday, but after hearing from students and staff, he postponed the decision until at least next week.
Since learning of the possible closure a week ago, students and instructors have done everything possible as they try to save the program.
“I’ve been with the program for 19 years. It’s been around for over 40. It was shocking, and it was kind of devastating for everybody involved with it,” Instructor Christopher Harris said. “Community colleges are still the best bang for students, especially in the technical training field. Not everybody is meant to go to a four-year University, and without our type of training we wouldn’t have the people that work in the kitchens, the people that work in the bakeshops.”
If the school moves forward with the closure of the program, it is expected that all current students will be able to finish their schooling, either at South Seattle College or Seattle Central.
Instructors say even though there are other pastry programs in the area, their program is unique and has been providing professionals in the industry for decades.
“It’s an integral part of our community, and I don’t know that maybe the community realizes that until things become harder to get,” Instructor Kim Smith said. “We’re getting our students and our graduates ready for the workforce. Just like anything, we don’t want to put our eggs all in one basket, we want a comprehensive model, and that’s what we do, and that’s what we do really well.”
“It’s our belief that our students should go where they feel most comfortable, and we have a lot of students that feel comfortable on this South Seattle, it connects with them, they can see themselves attending school here,” Smith added.
Students see the benefit too.
“I was actually looking at different pictures last night of stuff that I did before I came here and then stuff that I’ve done since I was a student here and it is like night and day,” Student Kate Gillette said. “Just being in the industry for the last 15 years hasn’t taught me nearly as much as the last year and a half has taught me from the instructors here, it’s actually a huge difference.”
Once the Interim President makes a decision, it will be officially approved by the Chancellor and the Board of Trustees.
