Academics. Belonging. Connections.
Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado’s first State of Our Schools speech focused on three themes: “the ABCs of school improvement.”
During her live presentation Tuesday, a handful of students and a parent in pre-recorded videos briefly shared their experiences of educational inequities and schooling.
“For many of you, it may have been difficult to hear from our students and parent about their lived experiences with our school system and its inequities,” Maldonado told viewers. “To change these stories, we need to implement the ABCs of school improvement.
“That means putting systems and safety nets in place to ensure that when a student does encounter a barrier, we don’t turn the other way. We don’t explain it in a way so others are uncomfortable or make excuses for why we can’t do the work it takes to help each and every child every day.”
Maldonado began her role as the superintendent of SBUSD in July, and she is the second female and first Latina to serve as superintendent in the 155-year history of the district.
She also took the helm in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, which forced schools across California to quickly transition from in-person classroom teaching to remote learning as COVID-19 cases soared. Secondary schools and elementary schools in SBUSD have reopened for in-person learning because the COVID-19 case rate dipped low enough for Santa Barbara County to move to the state’s red tier.
Since arriving in Santa Barbara, Maldonado said she focused her time on listening to the concerns and perspectives from key stakeholders, including students, educators and parents.
In addition, she has been learning “everything about our organization both internal and external,” and leading a district with more than 13,200 students.
“The goal every step of the way has been to keep our teachers, staff and students safe,” Maldonado said. “While figuring out how to get everyone back on campus in person as soon as possible five days a week, and maybe longer or even during the summer.”
Latino students make up about 60% of enrollment at SBUSD, according to Maldonado.
“Only 45% are currently being prepared to enter a four-year university,” Maldonado said.
On the other hand, Asian students make up about 3% of student enrollment, and 81% are prepared to enter a four-year university.
Maldonado said that 35% of the district’s students are white, and 75% are prepared to enter a four-year university.
About half of the students come from low-income families, and of those, nearly 40% are prepared to enter a four-year university.
Nearly 76% of students are headed for college or university after high school, Maldonado said.
About 13.6% of the district’s students identify as “special-education students,” Maldonado said, mentioning that Latino students in kindergarten through third grade are three times more likely to be identified as a “student with special-education needs.”
“What we are seeing is an over-identification and sometimes misidentification of our Latino students as students with special needs,” Maldonado said.
Emergent multilingual learners (English Learners) make up about 15% of the district’s students, Maldonado said.
About 13% of students are living in “distressed housing situations or are homeless,” she added.
“Our biggest challenge is meeting the needs of our emergent multilingual students,” Maldonado said.
Slightly more than 50% of the approximately 13,200 students enrolled in the district are socioeconomically disadvantaged, Maldonado said.
According to Kidsdata.org, Santa Barbara County has about 100,000 children age 17 or younger who live below the federal poverty rate. That’s about one in five children, Maldonado said.
The county’s child poverty rate is the second-highest recorded in the state, Maldonado added.
“COVID has only made these conditions worsen,” she said.
Many students received free food even when schools closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. About 1.2 million meals were served since the COVID-19 shutdown of in-person learning last year, Maldonado said.
Following the campus closures, the school district provided iPads to students.
“One hundred percent of our students have been issued district iPads, which have become the new textbook in this pandemic,” Maldonado said.
Looking forward, Maldonado outlined several goals for SBUSD, including increasing the workforce to represent the diverse student population, effective family engagement and community partnerships, inclusive teaching and learning as well as sustainable operations and supportive health and wellness.
“I believe we are only as good as our lowest-performing student,” Maldonado said. “When they rise, we all rise.”
SBUSD has 19 TK-12 schools, including nearly 160 preschoolers.
This year’s annual State of Our Schools was hosted by the Santa Barbara Education Foundation. The free event was virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Dos Pueblos High School student Yaritza Gonzalez led event attendees in the Pledge of Allegiance.
— Noozhawk staff writer Brooke Holland can be reached at bholland@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
