About a month ago, a petition signed by more than 730 people was brought to the Board of Trustees, calling for Superintendent-President Dr. Andreea Serban’s contract to be extended another year.

This petition showed the support behind Serban following the revelation of her interest in presidencies at other colleges, as well as the dispute regarding the new board majority possibly making an effort to push her out.

And the petitioners are right. City College needs Serban to remain in her position at this school.

She has no doubt ruffled the feathers of many in the community, specifically those on the Continuing Ed side, with her past policies.

Her cuts to the non-credit side upset those who have paid taxes and donated money to support the school for more years than many credit students have lived.

Understandably, the community lobbied in support of the four trustees, on a Continuing Ed platform.

But this board’s treatment of the president has put us at risk of losing her, in the midst of the crushing decision on where cuts must now be made on the credit side.

The surplus Serban created, partially with those cuts to Continuing Ed, may soften the loss of state funding. But the worst may be yet to come.

City College’s credit programs need Serban, and her policies, to give students a chance in this stormy climate.

Four-year institutions are raising their requirements for applicants, and what used to be tough is now closer to impossible. We can’t afford to lose what we still have at City College.

Our generation is always deemed uneducated or even apathetic. The future is said to be bleak with us in charge. We can’t possibly prove this wrong without the tools to do so.

It all starts with education: The foundation of our society.

Serban has provided us with these tools. She foresaw the eventual cuts; she has a plan if we face more in the future.

When you elect or appoint a president, you trust them to take care of you based on what you have seen in the past.

Her past performance has us in far better condition than many other community colleges in the state, as we might face nearly $11 million in cuts.

The San Diego community college district, made up of three campuses, will need to cut at least 1,000 courses.

Long Beach City College plans to kill off 222 courses this coming fall semester.

And Modesto Junior College has already planned to cut their entire Mass Communications department.

We remain in the enviable position of not yet having to take such severe action, thanks to Serban’s planning and cost-cutting.

She didn’t make many friends with the way the cuts were made, but those decisions are never easy. Fiscally, she went about them the best way possible.

Down the road, maybe her opposition will understand her past thought process, and realize what we need in a president. Because all that really matters is that the job is done right.

All things considered, that surplus sure looks good right now.