Quinn Wilson
In Motion Staff Writer
Hope may raise the spirits of the downtrodden, but it’s not going to raise the walls of a new student center.
Daytona State is seeking out around $32.3 million dollars—$23 million going toward a new student services building at the Daytona campus—while the rest would be used for maintenance and renovation of all campuses.
Last year, the College requested a similar budget and received $3 million. “We don’t have enough adequate classroom space,” said Sharon Crow, Daytona State’s Senior Vice President of Governmental Relations. “What we have there now (the student center) is (almost) 50 years old. It’s way past time to update.”
Health and safety regulations are a huge problem for the student center—and a building that old isn’t up to today’s standards. If Daytona State receives the funding it needs, the student center would be replaced by a four-story structure. When feasible, the current student cafeteria would be demolished as well.
State Governor Rick Scott cut the state’s education budget by $1.3 billion last year. Now, State Representative Dwayne Taylor hopes that K-12 and higher education will receive proper funding, but then went on to say that DSC may have to wait on funding for building.