How many times have we read this headline: “Bakersfield College classified staff to be laid off,” a story that strikes fear into the hearts of those people who keep the campus running.

It seems that every year, the administration, the district, or both get themselves and BC into a financial hock.

Every time it happens, you can be sure of one thing: the threat of a classified layoff. It must play head games with classified staffers.

“The morale is lower than I could have ever conceived,” said Del Allen, head of the classified union who spoke to The Rip in a recent interview. “People are physically ill. This is terrorism.”

But rest assured, the people who keep the campus clean, who process your enrollment forms and answer the phones, won’t go without a fight, according to Allen.

“We’ll fight tooth and nail,” he said. “If it comes down to the classified staff paying for the administration’s mistakes. I’ll turn into a junkyard dog.”

He’s got a point. The 50-50 rule, if you’re unfamiliar with it, is a state mandate that says 50 percent of funding that the school receives must go toward classroom instruction. That means the other 50 percent goes toward everything else; administration pay, campus beautification and yes, the classified payroll budget.

Now that layoffs at BC have been averted, let’s not forget that five classified staffers at Cerro Coso College are losing their jobs because of the district’s financial problems.

That’s poor management on the district’s part. BC administrators gave themselves a pay raise, even though budget problems existed.

It time for all segments of the district and campus tobuild realistic budgets. BC needs to stop crying wolf.

Administrators need to try to work out a budget plan before they threaten someone’s source of income. Officials may finally learn that classified staffers are worth having around.