Comment on Witness says City College received warnings for years that it was in jeopardy

City College of San Francisco has received clear warnings since 2006 about its financial instability and other problems that threatened its accreditation, witnesses said Thursday under questioning from attorneys for the commission trying to revoke the school’s accreditation. A similar letter was sent in 2010, this time adding concerns about soaring retiree health obligations that the college was not saving for. Each letter was introduced as evidence for the commission’s contention that it did its job properly and that it had no choice but to revoke accreditation from City College - a decision that is on hold pending the outcome of the trial. The commission’s lawyers also questioned Gohar Momjian, a City College employee appointed to serve as its accreditation liaison officer in 2012, when the college was first sanctioned and told to comply with all standards within a year or lose accreditation. Under questioning from the commission’s attorneys, the witnesses also testified that City College’s 2012 “self-study” - an assessment of its own compliance with accreditation— was not entirely honest. Beno, who is not a voting member of the accrediting commission, also disclosed for the first time that just one of the 17 commissioners opposed revoking accreditation from City College during its vote in 2013. There was also discussion about “restoration status,” a potential compromise to the loss of accreditation status for City College.