Advancing AVC through financial challenges: The Stine Era, 1975-1986

Presidents of community colleges typically came from the ranks of chief instructional officers. So when Antelope Valley College (AVC) trustees in 1975 hired a chief business officer to serve as its new president, the decision elicited concerns.

Even before Dr. Clinton W. “Dick” Stine was hired, the process for selecting AVC’s fourth president had come under boycott and protests by faculty members who felt they should have greater representation on the committee to select a president.[i] Thus, Stine’s selection did little to ease faculty member concerns.

“I was the first business manager (statewide) that became a superintendent, as I recall,” Stine said in a 2016 interview. “Faculty groused a little bit. I doubt they would have selected a business manager. They soon learned that I knew what I was doing.”[ii]

Indeed, selection of a business executive would prove to be a fortuitous move by the college as Californians would soon rebel against high taxes, approving one of the most significant tax reform referendums of modern times: the Jarvis Initiative, Proposition 13.

“Stine was really a good man, particularly in a district that was having financial challenges,” said William Fellers, who served as chief business officer for AVC during Stine’s tenure.[iii]

While Stine had some teaching experience, he had spent most of his career in administration at El Camino College in Torrance, where he started working in 1959.

“I was in the business area and conditions were quite different in those days. I did quite a lot of work in business as well as (government) at the local and at the state level,” Stine said.

El Camino had grown from a campus of about 5,000 students to approximately 25,000 during Stine’s tenure. Part of his responsibilities included supervising 21 building projects at the campus.[iv]

When AVC announced it was looking for a new president, Stine applied.

“I wanted to be head over my own shop. I was restless and I had a degree,” he said in reference to a doctorate he had obtained from the University of Southern California. Also, he desired more involvement in college curriculum, something he could not accomplish from the business realm.

The differences between AVC and El Camino were profound. El Camino was one of the largest community colleges in California with a student enrollment more than five times greater than AVC.[v] In addition, “El Camino was a very rich institution. It had money. It had a lot of money,” said Stine. In contrast, AVC had struggled financially with a low tax rate since its inception

Yet Stine said he wasn’t concerned about AVC’s funding.

“One of the reasons I went there, it didn’t have any obvious internal or external problems … that couldn’t be resolved,” said Stine. To assist Stine in his goals was an existing leadership team at AVC that consisted of “some of the best administrators” he had ever worked with: Jennings Brown overseeing academic affairs, Bill Fellers in business services, Mike Keenan in student services and Bill Montamble, student activities.[vi]

From the outset, Stine presented a pragmatic approach to the operation of the college.

At his first board meeting, Stine noted that it was likely the various constituent groups of the college and community could agree upon the goals and the mission of the college, yet each had very different interests.

“Often each of these interests have a design on the power structure of the educational enterprise which must be the legal responsibility and concern of the board. These different interests must be recognized, he said, with accommodations worked out among the parties,” the board minutes reported of Stine’s comments.[vii]

One surprise Stine found out about upon his arrival was that the college was due for a self-study and accreditation visit.

To those unfamiliar with the world of higher education, having the college accredited may seem like an obscure, administrative process to validate the college’s programs. However, having the college accredited was vital to the existence of the college.

The college’s Application for Reaffirmation of Accreditation published in 1976 provided a good overview of what Stine encountered upon his arrival at AVC.

The college had undergone several construction projects since it first opened in 1961. The campus now had a stadium on the west side of the campus, along with an archery field and golf practice area. To the north was an auto shop, greenhouse, portable agriculture building and maintenance building – all added since AVC’s previous accreditation in 1969. In addition, there were new buildings housing the music, art, drama and home economics programs on the southwest part of the campus, plus the former auto shop had been converted for use as an auto body shop. An elevator was added to the Administration Building in 1975. Portable buildings were added between the Administration Building and Knapp Library to provide more office space.[viii]

The curriculum had changed and grown considerably since 1969, including the addition of programs in aeronautics/aerospace, auto body repair, landscape and park management, banking, dietetic service supervision, medical office assistant, home health aide, nurse aide, public works and registered nursing.[ix]

During his first semester at the college, Stine witnessed a 33 percent increase in student enrollment over fall 1974, from 4,665 to 6,212.[x]

Despite continued enrollment growth since 1969, the college had not added to its full-time faculty, which posed a problem for renewing accreditation. “The college has addressed itself to this problem and has approved for the fall of 1976 four new administrative positions, which include teaching responsibilities, and eight new full-time faculty positions,” AVC’s accreditation document reported. “Several new classified positions are also being proposed such as clerical, maintenance, custodial and paraprofessional.”

In some respects, Antelope Valley College still had some elements of the high school environment from which it had begun in 1929; in terms of its administrative structure and even the color scheme of its buildings that contained color accents more fitting for a grade school than a higher education institution.

In summer 1976, Stine elevated the chief administrative officers who reported directly to him to the title of vice presidents/assistant superintendents.[xi] Middle managers who were overseeing academic divisions were elevated from directors to deans. Along with the new titles came salary increases.[xii]

Stine not only had a strong business background, but he had extensive experience dealing with elected officials at the state level – a factor that would benefit students, officials and the community for many years.

Vice President of Student Services Mike Keenan announced to trustees in March 1977 that beginning fall 1977 high school students from the district’s feeder schools would be given first registration priority for classes at AVC. College officials would visit area high schools in the spring to provide high school seniors the opportunity to complete registration for classes. This included separate visits for assessing students, orientation and registration at Antelope Valley, Palmdale, Quartz Hill, Paraclete and Rosamond high schools.[xiii]

Providing early registration priority for students required a change in state regulations, which Stine initiated.

“We went to the state eventually and got them to recognize that graduating seniors from high school should have priority registration. I went to the state organization and got them to change Title V,” Stine said. “I did a lot of legislative work in Sacramento. During budget season of May and June I was up there weekly and sometimes twice a week.”

The priority registration for graduating high school students was well received.

The percentage of high school students matriculating at AVC went from 39 percent of the high school graduating class in 1976 to 45 percent in fall 1977.[xiv] Keenan told board members that the process had proven “very successful” and that the cooperation from high school counselors had been outstanding.[xv] Thus, AVC became the first California community college to offer early registration to high school seniors.

Stine also sought to elevate the faculty, both in terms of numbers and those with doctorates.

“He was the first one to bring PdDs into the college,” said Dr. Ralph Brax, a history professor and one of many in a wave of new hires by Stine in 1977. “Stine brought in 18 (faculty members), in part, because we were going to lose our accreditation. He continued to push for full-time faculty despite the fact we were 69^th out of 70 districts in state funding. He sat on every hiring committee. He kept us solvent when we were really poor.”[xvi]

“I said (to the board) I want to develop this place to strengthen the faculty,” Stine said. “They gave me half the (district’s financial) reserve. We needed good people and we needed some advanced degrees around the place.”[xvii]

Among the new faculty hires were Richard Balogh, physical science, geology, geography; Dr. Patricia Braun, sociology; Donald Brown, business; Dr. Richard Escobedo, mathematics; Patricia Crosby Hinds, painting and drawing; Donna Meyer, business; Dr. Selma Minet, early childhood education; Eugene Pagliaro, physical education; Dr. Donald Ranish, political science; Mary Kelso, foods, clothing and early childhood education; Travis Searcy, welding; and Steve Sodergren, real estate.[xviii]

Yet even as the new full-time faculty members were settling into their jobs, a statewide tax revolt would threaten the financial stability of AVC and other publicly-funded entities throughout California.

Stine warned college trustees in early 1978 that a proposal to be considered by California voters on the June 6, 1978 ballot could have serious implications for AVC. The Jarvis Initiative, Proposition 13, if approved by voters, would limit the funding for all local public services by an across-the-board reduction in property taxes. The projected loss in revenue to local service agencies would be $7 billion to $8 billion annually across California, with AVC expected to lose more than $1 million of its income, equal to 40 percent of its tax revenue.[xix]

Trustees immediately authorized college district staff “to use all legal means available to inform the voting public regarding the Jarvis Initiative and to proceed with the contingency plans to operate the institution in 1978-79 and thereafter should the Jarvis Initiative be successfully passed on June 6.”[xx]

Stine returned to the next board of trustees meeting with several scenarios on how the college district could respond to Proposition 13, including operating the college until it ran out of money. However, the board approved a plan that would:

• Terminate all part-time instructors – approximately 165-170 people.[xxi]
• Reassign all non-classroom certificated support (deans, directors, counselors, librarian) to classroom teaching.
• Increase class sizes and increase lecture load.
• Cut support services.[xxii]

Through the process, Stine didn’t advocate for layoffs of any full-time instructors – a fact that won the admiration of many, according to Brax. Even so, the proposal would save $1.6 million.

“(Stine) made the promise to us that none of those 18 (newly hire faculty members) was going to lose his job. That was the promise made to us. Faculty agreed to teach two additional classes. It really brought people together,” Brax said.[xxiii]

As the election approached, trustees also decided to cancel summer school in the event Proposition 13 passed and the state Legislature failed to commit money to AVC. There was a lone dissenter on the board regarding summer school: Trustee Earl Wilson. It was also notable that the dissenting vote by Wilson was the first of many that would put Wilson at odds with other trustees and the administration in ensuing years.[xxiv]

Whatever dire predictions were made about the negative sides of Proposition 13, they couldn’t compete with the anti-tax mood of Californians who overwhelmingly approved the initiative. The initiative passed with nearly a two-thirds majority of voters, and thus reduced property tax rates on homes, businesses and farms by about 57 percent.[xxv]

Meanwhile, Brendon Brown, newly-elected president of the Faculty Association told trustees that the association members “wholeheartedly” supported the cancellation of summer school in order to offer a more complete fall semester schedule.[xxvi]

Trustees approved other actions as part of their post-Proposition 13 plan, including temporarily laying off a number of non-teaching support staff and suspending a policy on teaching load that cleared the way for full-time faculty to teach beyond 15 hours per week. (Faculty members would get a pro-rata share of any additional money for teaching overload, should the district receive more money from the state.)[xxvii]

By the end of summer, officials issued “call backs” for many of the support staff who had been laid off in June.[xxviii]

The passage of Proposition 13 was a challenging time for the college, but AVC emerged financially stable and still had intact a new group of faculty members who would bring new ideas and energy to help shape the curriculum for years to come. Summer term was restored a year later.

Proposition 13 was the greatest threat faced by AVC, according to Brax, whose career spanned more than 35 years at the college.

“I think the biggest challenge was to stay solvent after Prop 13 and not firing any of the faculty or classified (staff). Once you fire people, you never get past that. It will rupture the institution. Everybody felt good about the place when we turned the tide,” Brax said.[xxix]

The college marked its 50^th anniversary in 1979. Former superintendent of the high school district that founded the college, Dr. Roy Knapp, served as the June 1979 commencement speaker.[xxx] Then, in November 1979, a number of former college officials visited the campus including trustees James Fulcher, Charlotte Rupner, Ross Amspoker and Louis Massari, plus the first president, Dr. Lowell Barker, and retired President William Kepley.[xxxi]

And, in another cost-saving measure, the trustees agreed to consolidate board elections with other agencies, thus moving elections from April to November.[xxxii]

Although Stine had done much to improve the standing of administrators and faculty members at the college, the ranks of the classified support staff continued to see high turnover rates and concerns over pay.

Between April 1978 – just before passage of Proposition 13 – and April 1980, more than half (57 percent) of the non-teaching support staff had left employment at the college. Six never returned from being temporarily laid off after Proposition 13, 15 took jobs elsewhere, nine relocated, three retired and others had various reasons for leaving.[xxxiii]

“There are hidden implications in this high turnover rate such as a breakdown in the continuity of workflow, lack of communication and understanding of district policies, induction costs and inefficiencies, and low employee morale,” Stine reported to the board. He was quick to add that “it is quite likely that some of those reasons are directly or indirectly related to Proposition 13.”[xxxiv] In addition, two-thirds of those resigning had annual salaries of less than $10,000, Stine said.

Stine said that a recently adopted salary study would resolve some of the deficiencies in the classified salary schedule. The president advocated for a personnel director, which Stine had rated 12 on a list of 35 critical needs he presented to the board. He said such a person could work with problems of retention, replacement, hiring and training.[xxxv] At the time, personnel functions were handled through the Business Services Office.

AVC lost a key member of its administrative team when Vice President of Academic Affairs Jennings Brown retired Feb. 21, 1981.[xxxvi] Faculty member Martha Wengert was appointed interim vice president[xxxvii] and, on July 1, Rae Yoshida was hired as the new vice president.[xxxviii] Yoshida was originally hired as a nursing instructor at AVC and, at the time of her promotion, was dean of the Allied Health Division.

In a change benefitting the Allied Health Division, contractors had finished work on an expansion of the Administration Building, adding office, classroom and lab space on the ground level of the northwest corner of the building. With the addition, it was no longer possible for people in the lobby to have a direct line of sight with the Gymnasium across the open expanse of campus. Also, the project provided a new board room for trustees to meet, Room 102 at the southwest side of Administration. Prior to that, trustees held all of their board meetings in the staff dining room adjacent to the cafeteria.

AVC continued to develop its programs. A 1980 summer theater program that was jointly sponsored by AVC and the City of Lancaster, was entirely sponsored by the college in 1981 under the direction of Bruce Smith.[xxxix] Also, college trustees approved improvements to the women’s athletic program, following recommendations by a campus Title IX Committee to allow women students to participate in cross country (coed), track (coed), women’s tennis, women’s volleyball and basketball.[xl]

The expansion included adding a full-time women’s coach/instructor position and a women’s training room.

In the student services realm, three newly-created program manager positions would oversee functions in that area including: Joy McCaslin, Disabled Student Services; Walter Briggs, Extended Opportunities Program and Services (EOPS); and Joanne Kay, Reentry/Outreach.[xli]

Stine had a strong hand in the development and creation of programs at the college. “I established the principle that new programs I would nurture for the first year or two and then turn over to the dean of the respective area,” said Stine.[xlii]

However, that strong leadership from the president’s office wasn’t always appreciated in the shared governance environment where faculty members expected to have a voice in various decisions. Conflict made its way into college board meetings.

In early 1982, Academic Senate President Bruce Smith expressed concern over lack of faculty involvement in making recommendations for the 1982-83 budget process. Stine responded that the board needed to discuss the next budget year’s program and possible reductions – discussions that would be in a special meeting and in closed session.[xliii]

Martha Wengert, president of the Faculty Association, which represented faculty in contract negotiations, echoed Smith’s sentiments saying that both the Academic Senate and Faculty Association would like to be involved in the decision-making process for the college budget before trustees take any action. Two faculty representatives were allowed into a closed session with trustees, but no procedures were identified for involving faculty members through an ongoing process.[xliv]

Smith pressed Stine on a second area where Smith felt the Academic Senate should be involved: in the formulation of basic skills policy. Instead, Stine had established his own Basic Skills Committee a year earlier. Stine said the senate could review the committee’s actions and propose alternatives, but Stine was unwilling to provide the Academic Senate with approval authority.[xlv]

Criticism of Stine’s actions would only increase when, a few weeks later, Stine announced he would run for elected office – seeking to represent the local 37^th State Assembly District in Sacramento.[xlvi]

A special board meeting on the district’s budget in May 1982 brought more criticism from two newly-elected faculty representatives. Dr. Ralph Brax, president of the Faculty Association, and John Hall, president of the Academic Senate, both complained that budget considerations weren’t discussed at the College Council, which served as a forum for discussion of matters involving faculty and administrators. The concern centered on Stine’s proposal to eliminate the position of dean of learning resources through attrition or assigning the duty to an existing dean.[xlvii]

Trustee Earl Wilson joined with the faculty members in opposing Stine’s recommendation, saying the administration should have provided alternatives for board review. Furthermore, whatever differences Wilson had from months prior escalated to the point that Wilson asked for the next month’s agenda to have an item “calling for the resignation of the president.”[xlviii]

Fellow trustee P.K. Williams responded that the president’s broad-based business background had helped the college through “very trying financial situations.” He backed Stine’s request to eliminate the dean of learning resources position. The board majority, with Wilson dissenting, voted to eliminate the dean’s position and to have the duties absorbed by Dr. Bryan Cooper, who was in his first year as dean of the Language Arts Division.[xlix]

While seemingly no one questioned Stine’s business acumen, his interpersonal skills were lacking according to those who worked with him. Through interviews, a picture emerges of a man who could be abrupt, who didn’t like the news media, and who sometimes had a tendency to take things personally. “He just wouldn’t go out in the community and talk to people,” said Brax.

“Stine had no people skills. He told me one day: ‘I don’t get along with people and, unfortunately, that’s all we’ve got around here’,” said Fred Thompson, who served as dean of the Social Science Division under Stine.[l]

At a June 16, 1982 board meeting, Wilson’s request for Stine’s resignation was taken into a closed session of the board. Nothing was reported from that meeting.

However, with Stine’s political campaign in full swing, David Kennedy, representing the American Federation of Teachers suggested that Stine take a one year leave of absence to pursue his outside commitments. In his political quest, Stine was running as a Democrat in what was considered a traditionally Republican district.

By fall, board President Kicenski reported getting phone calls about Stine’s campaigning. Kicenski noted that Stine, in consultation with the board, was granted a leave of absence and use of vacation for the purpose of campaigning. [li]

“I really wanted to go to Sacramento,” Stine said years later.

A majority of voters, however, weren’t interested in sending Stine to Sacramento. He lost the election.

AVC continued to make its way through the post-Proposition 13 era – even seeing an opportunity to serve another segment of the population. In summer 1983, AVC launched a Summer Term Enrichment Program (STEP), a response to the lack of summer school programs in area grade schools.

Stine told board members that grade schools would only receive state funding for remedial classes and they were without funding for other types of summer classes. Thus, he proposed the college offer special fee-based courses for the community – classes aimed primarily at students aged 10 to 17.

STEP proved quite successful with 604 people taking part, with 80 percent of those in grades three through eight, according to its director, Alis Clausen.[lii] Trustees voted unanimously to continue the program the following year.

Meanwhile, college officials worked to develop a constitution for a College Council, which would focus on involving faculty representatives in a shared governance structure for the college. The council proposed achieving consensus on decision-making processes, a factor that was troubling to at least two board members. Trustees Paula Clever and P.K. “Ken” Williams were concerned that only one opinion through consensus would come out of the council through the proposed College Council constitution. The trustees noted they preferred a “divergence of information in order to make sound judgements.”[liii] The board delayed any consideration of the constitution for four months. Although trustees eventually approved the constitution for the council, the lengthy process and discussions underscored the challenges in adopting a shared governance process.[liv]

Throughout the summer of 1983, trustee Earl Wilson continued to oppose Stine on a variety of issues. Wilson was the lone dissenter among trustees who chose to extend Stine’s contract through June 30, 1987.[lv]

When Stine tried to launch an extensive planning effort for the district by having a faculty member be released from part of his/her teaching duties to conduct planning activities, Wilson cast the lone vote against the plan. That prompted Stine to note that due to “dissension regarding this recommendation,” Stine didn’t feel he could succeed with the plan to have a faculty member serve in the planning role. “For planning to be successful, it requires a financial commitment and strong support from the board, top administrators and faculty leadership,” Stine said in his presentation to trustees.[lvi]

(The lack of institution-wide planning at AVC had been cited by the 1977 and 1981 accreditation review team reports. In the summary of the 1981 Accreditation Validation and Review Team Report, the team stated: “The present study seems to be a document which assesses accurately without sufficient evaluation, and proposes with limited planning; e.g., comments about what should take place but no identified strategies for implementation. Planning strategies under development which were set aside with the impact of Proposition 13 now need to be reviewed and made manifest.”[lvii])

In spite of the challenges, Stine carried out two deals in fall 1983 that would have trustees and others praising his efforts decades later.

While Stine was working at El Camino College years earlier, he had a friend in the state Senate who asked for Stine’s advice on a significant revision related to school revenue in the state’s Redevelopment Agency law. “I was steeped in the process because I helped write the law,” Stine said.[lviii] (In terms of funding and other areas, community colleges were still linked to kindergarten through 12^th grade school districts in California.)

Thus, years later, when the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale were creating redevelopment project areas, Stine saw his chance to access money for the college through the cities’ redevelopment agencies. On Oct. 19, 1983, the college board approved two contracts with Lancaster’s Redevelopment Agency involving the Amended Lancaster Residential Redevelopment Project and the Amargosa Redevelopment Project. The contracts provided that the community college district would get a portion of the tax increments from the projects. Lancaster became the first redevelopment agency in California that agreed to “pass through” trust funds to a community college district.[lix]

The following month, a similar deal was initiated with Palmdale’s Redevelopment Agency involving Palmdale Redevelopment Project Area No. 4.[lx]

Through the years, the redevelopment agreements generated hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Antelope Valley Community College District. Stine said that when he attended a college function many years later, several trustees commented on how the college had benefitted from the discretionary money generated through the redevelopment contracts.[lxi]

Stine continued to press for ways to get more money for the college.

In February 1984, trustees conducted a special meeting where Stine discussed funding problems for the college and the need for more money to create and maintain facilities for the valley’s growing population. Trustees agreed that more money was needed for the district through a tax override election, but they couldn’t agree what items should be included or when to call for an election.[lxii] At one point, there was mention of conducting a June 1984 election, which Trustee Earl Wilson said he could not support. Stine outlined the importance of a unanimous vote by trustees.

 As 1984 progressed, there were other changes and challenges at the college. The biggest change would be to students with the imposition of fees. Since the creation of California’s community colleges, state residents were allowed to attend without paying any tuition. However, since the passage of Proposition 13, there had been increased pressure to impose fees on community college students. Thus, in the 1984-85 academic year, state lawmakers imposed a $5 per unit fee on students who were California residents.[lxiii]

Eight AVC nursing instructors filed claims against the district in May over how they were paid on a Vocational Credential Salary Schedule.[lxiv] The Academic Senate withdrew from participation on the College Council.[lxv] Trustees terminated the employment of an employee in the EOPS office over alleged improprieties.[lxvi] These issues and others would play out over the next year through the courts and local news media, leading to continual controversial and sometimes negative reports associated with the college.

March 1985 proved to be an especially challenging month.

The administration again came under criticism from faculty leaders regarding shared governance issues. Dr. Ralph Brax, of the Faculty Association, and John Hall, of the AVC Federation of Teachers, criticized Stine for meeting directly with part-time instructors regarding a proposed pay increase rather than going through a Salary Committee. Stine defended his position saying he felt it was his duty to disclose information from a statewide salary study directly to the adjunct faculty members.[lxvii]

The incident was described in a front-page news story in the Antelope Valley Press that included a quote from Brax: “We are shocked, we are outraged, we are hurt.”[lxviii]

Then, starting the following week, newspaper readers were fed a steady diet of news coverage “in a trial that focused as much attention on alleged wrongdoing by college administrators” as it did on an AVC employee accused of wrongdoing.[lxix]

A school relations officer in the college’s Extended Opportunities Program and Services (EOPS) office allegedly provided two students with financial aid but required the students to return some of the money to him.[lxx] The employee, John McDonald, was acquitted of the charges, but not before two weeks of news coverage raised questions of racial bias by college officials.[lxxi]

McDonald, an African American, was represented in court by attorney Eugene E. Siegel. Siegel noted that McDonald had been placed on unpaid leave, and that his pay was later reinstated pending trial while a white administrator accused of wrongdoing three years prior was not suspended and her word was taken over her accusers.[lxxii]

Adding to claims of racial bias, Siegel referred to two other African American AVC employees. He noted that a black librarian from the college had filed a civil suit against AVC claiming she was discriminated against because of her race.[lxxiii] Then, Donna Jacobs, a black full-time instructor at AVC, testified that administrators had taken various disciplinary actions against her because of her race.[lxxiv]

Stine took the stand to refute the allegations of racial bias.[lxxv] But, ultimately, the municipal court jury found McDonald innocent of one charge of misdemeanor grand theft and two counts of petty theft.

Following his acquittal, McDonald and another AVC employee filed a civil action against the college. Other legal challenges with the college involved a dispute between AVC and the City of Lancaster over zoning near the college[lxxvi] and a lawsuit by nursing instructors over salary.

On campus, faculty continued to be at odds with Stine over governance issues, by complaining about lack of involvement in the college budget process[lxxvii] and the Academic Senate voted to meet with administration only with all senate members present.[lxxviii]

Voters were given the opportunity in November 1985 to have a voice in the direction of the college as three of the five trustee seats were up for election. While trustee Dr. H.E. Kicenski was re-elected to a four-year term, incumbents Paula Clever and P.K. Williams – strong supporters of Stine – lost to challengers Lynda Gloyd and James V. DuPratt.[lxxix]

After Stine gave the oath of office to the three trustees, Kicenski was elected by fellow trustees to serve as president of the board for the coming year. Kicenski stated his priorities as board president would be to improve employee salaries, reestablish the College Council, and bring fair and equitable solutions to litigations, among other goals.[lxxx]

The month after the new trustees were seated, trustees met in a closed session for nearly two hours. When it was over, Vice President of Business Services William Fellers – and now acting president - announced that Stine would be going on sabbatical the following week.[lxxxi] Stine was out as superintendent/president.

The news caught the campus and community by surprise.

A front-page, banner headline in the Antelope Valley Press announced: “Stine steps down at AV College.”

The newspaper provided this account:

“The announcement of Stine’s leave came unexpectedly to teachers and administrators alike. Bill Fellers, vice president of business services at the college for the last 13 years, said he knew nothing about the resignation until after the executive session Monday night. Fellers will become the temporary president of the college until a new president can be appointed by the board.

“A discussion of Stine leaving the president’s position has been under way in closed door sessions between Stine and the board since December, (Trustee Earl) Wilson said. That was the month two new trustees were sworn in, which broke up a board that had been unchanged for 10 years.

“During last fall’s election the topic of Stine had become the major issue among candidates for the college board. Stine had become a source of controversy, and several lawsuits have been filed against the college during his administration.

“Incumbents P.K. Williams and Paula Clever, who had been criticized for supporting Stine’s policies, were unseated during the election by (Lynda) Gloyd and James V. DuPratt Jr. who have been outspoken opponents of Stine’s actions. Their election changed the board’s majority from one in support of Stine to one of dissent.”[lxxxii]

Stine described the decision to resign as an “amicable separation.”[lxxxiii]

“I approached the board and asked if it wasn’t better for me to take a sabbatical leave and teach for a couple of years,” Stine said. That way, Stine fulfilled his contract that took him through June 1987. Stine returned to the campus in fall 1986 to teach business courses through the spring 1987 semester.[lxxxiv]

The Stine era was over. The college community set about the task to find a new leader.

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