By JAMES DRAPER

CARTHAGE — Texas leaders might be trying to save money through massive statewide budget cuts, but they're really just passing the buck, Dr. Gregory Powell says.

The Panola College president said that after Gov. Rick Perry and other leaders in the capitol realized they were facing an almost $10 billion budget shortfall, they took the knife to community college budgets.

Like many state-funded agencies, community colleges are being ordered to slash 7 percent of their state-supported budgets, and Powell said the cuts could increase to 12.5 percent in fiscal year 2004. Panola College is facing a $305,890 cut this year, which will likely increase to almost $1 million next year.

"I think that the governor and lieutenant governor and speaker of the house are just desperate to try and balance the budget," Powell said. "The governor in his State of the State address said that it would be a way for the state to save money, but of course it's not a way for the state to save money. It's just shifting the burden."

And budgets aren't the only finances feeling the crunch. Powell said the college learned recently that the administration is also cutting insurance as well, putting that back on the public as well. For example, according to Powell, employees paying $294.84 a month for family insurance could see their costs increase by more than $400 a month.

"By shifting the burden from the taxpayers at the state level where everyone participates, when you shift it down to the local level it could disproportionately affect the citizens of Panola," Powell said.

And the budget cuts couldn't come at a worse time for community colleges, he said. Coming off a record fall enrollment of 1,675, the school year is more than halfway through and funds were already committed for the fall and spring semesters, leaving the summer courses to take the brunt of the funding hit.

Many other areas of the college are feeling the pinch, Powell said, everything from academics to extracurricular activities to personnel.

"We're looking at reducing the number of classes that we offer. We are looking at eliminating programs. We are looking at laying off personnel," Powell said. A hiring freeze has been instituted, and other cuts are being made in maintenance, deferring all work that is not safety- or security-related, "Which you can do for a year. It's not something you can do indefinitely. We're looking hard at everything."

The campuswide cutbacks come in the face of Perry's mandate that instructed the colleges to spare academic and student services. Powell said the college cannot sustain budget cuts of this magnitude without affecting services, and the administration might not understand the ramifications of Perry's order.

"That's ridiculous," Powell said. He's tried contacting some of the leaders and explaining the situation, but with no success. "Honestly, I haven't had any favorable response whatsoever, no indiction that there's going to be a backing off of this position."

Students are concerned, with many wondering if they are going to able to afford to attend college next year when "We will absolutely be increasing tuition and fees," Powell said. But, silence is acquiescence he said. "If they don't like the direction the state is headed then they need to be involved in the democratic process and let their state officials know."

Powell said the state's cuts are just another example that community colleges aren't appreciated for the services they provide to their students, their communities and the state. The schools must not be a high priority, he said, even though they enroll 73 percent of the state's freshmen and sophomores and 78 percent of all minority freshmen and sophomores.

And, he said the state is neglecting a study that shows for every dollar the state invests in community colleges, $18 is returned to the economy.

Powell said a study by the Texas Association of Community Colleges shows for every school contact hour (class hours per week times the number of weeks in a semester) since 1992 the state appropriation to community colleges decreased 15.6 percent while tuition and fees increased 37.3 percent and property taxes increased 53.2 percent.

"When I look at that it says the students and the local taxpayers have been doing their share to pay the cost of providing a community college education," he said. "It's faulty logic for the state to think it's saving money. They're just shifting it to another level."