SALEM — By passing a bill, the state is poised to end a eight-month ordeal that nearly ended Blue Mountain Community College’s corrections education program.

On April 8, the Oregon Senate followed the House in passing House Bill 5042, a spending bill that includes $542,033 for BMCC to help tie up some loose ends as it starts its new contract with the Oregon Department of Corrections.

Sen. Bill Hansell, R-Athena, who voted for the bill, said the allocation will act as a stopgap funding to cover the few months between the end of the BMCC’s old contract with the state prison system and the beginning of its new contract.

The future of BMCC’s adult education programs at Eastern Oregon Correctional Institution, Two Rivers Correctional Institution and Powder River Correctional Facility in Baker City came into question in August 2020 after the DOC told community colleges across the state that it intended to end all of its contracts and move its educational programs in-house.

BMCC and the other community colleges rallied to try to save their programs before their contracts expired in January, contacting Hansell and state Sen. Michael Dembrow, D-Portland, to help bring DOC to the negotiating table.

Despite the department halting talks at one point and insisting its decision was final, the two sides eventually came to a new agreement, albeit under new terms. The colleges would now contract with the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission, which would act as an intermediary between the state prison system and the schools. The DOC, would also pay the colleges less for their services than they had under the old contract.

This development hurt BMCC especially because it has one of the largest corrections education programs in the state.

John Fields, the college’s vice president of instruction, said BMCC is unique in the fact that much of its corrections faculty are full-time staff.

“Some of them have been there their entire careers,” he said.

The college believes the structure leads to better educational outcomes for the inmates in the program, but it also meant BMCC was operating its program at a higher cost than others. When the DOC approved the new contract, the college eliminated five positions, including four faculty. As a result, two employees retired, one changed disciplines and one moved to a part-time job.

But BMCC couldn’t make moves until it agreed to the new contract, which came well after the old contract ended in January. Meanwhile, the college still had to negotiate staff reductions with its faculty union.

Fields said the money from the Oregon Legislature allows BMCC to move forward while still honoring the union contract. The college also won’t have to revisit the size of its corrections education program until January 2023, when the current contract ends.

Sen. Hansell said his next move is to ensure all the contracts the community colleges and DOC agreed to are funded in the next biennium.