There are 462 students who have left the Santa Barbara Unified School District since July 1, according to district officials.
Of those, nearly half are white, despite the fact that they make up only about a third of the population in the district.
“There’s a disproportionate amount of white students who have left this year than in the past,” said Frann Wageneck, the district’s assistant superintendent.
Wageneck said many of those families likely left for private, independent schools.
About 202 white students have dis-enrolled since July 1, for the current 2020-21 school. At the same time a year prior, the number of white students who dis-enrolled was 110. The number of Latinx students who dis-enrolled this year was 220, versus 192 in the year prior.
The attendance numbers illustrate the deep emotions and feelings surrounding the return to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district’s board of trustees will discuss a hybrid scenario for a return to school at Tuesday night’s meeting. Although state and county officials have said that school can re-open with social distancing in the current red tier, Santa Barbara Unified has decided to wait until January to re-open schools beyond small cohorts.
District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado said of the students who left, about 55% of them departed for other California public school districts and others enrolled in a private school or home-school.
Many parents have been pressuring district officials and board members to open sooner. Some students even held a protest outside the district headquarters a week ago.
All of the board members have been recipients of phone calls and emails.
“The current hybrid model represents a fair compromise to the parent and teacher feedback,” said parent Caroline Harrah, who has two children in the district. “However, there remains a big question about what will happen should we not reach the Orange Tier by January. In such case, students might revert to the current model which is unacceptable for many parents.”
Harrah started a Facebook group called SB PLAN, which has about 800 members. Many in the group have pushed for an earlier opening.
“SB PLAN members generally feel that it is safe to return to school in the red tier based on the hybrid model and safety procedures proposed by the district, and that such a plan should proceed in January even if we are still in the red tier,” Harrah said.
Under the district’s hybrid plan, students would be on alternating schedules of Monday/Thursday and Tuesday/Friday for in-person school. Students would have time with their teacher every day of the week, even during asynchronous days. Wednesday would be a half day.
Students who choose independent learning will experience daily interaction with their teachers and peers remotely and have daily designated times to log on to each class with their teacher. All instruction would be remote.
Independent learners or “Group C” would not participate in in-person academics, but may participate in co/extra-curricular and/or enrichment activities in person.
“The option presented for those who choose to learn from home appears to address initial concerns about losing connection to homeschool teachers and classmates,” Harrah said. “We would like to see the district adopt the current plan and work towards implementing it now so that we are ready for students in January.”
Harrah wants the district to implement some of the hybrid scenarios now.
“Students are eager and should be provided the opportunity to connect with other students on campus prior to January through increased cohorted activities, sports, CTE, visual and performing arts and band,” Harrah said. “Even an hour on campus now could make a big difference to those struggling with the isolation experienced through remote learning.”
While a larger number of white students have left the district, some of those who have remained have struggled, the district acknowledges.
The pandemic has exacerbated inequities for students living in poverty, emergent multilingual learners, special education students, and marginalized groups, such as homeless and foster youth, Wageneck said.
Students without devices or steady internet connectivity have also struggled.
Board President Laura Capps said teachers, parents, students and staff are working under a lot of pressure. She’s been encouraging the administration to kick its planning into high gear, communicate thoroughly, and spell out in detail the safety measures and instructional realities.
“I understand the anxiety facing families as they decide which plan will work best for them, with limited information, and the need for teachers and staff to have in place vital protections and necessary support,” Capps said. “This is an extremely tough time that calls for building the plane while flying.”
Wageneck urged members of the public to remain patient with the district.
For example, the district still needs to hire people in order to open in a hybrid or scenario. According to the staff report for Tuesday’s meeting, staff still needs to hire six custodians, 20 paraprofessionals, and 11 playground supervisors.
Of the 25 substitute teachers the district needs, it has only hired 15 so far.
“All parents, from all different perspectives, are seeing the issue from their family’s viewpoint,” Wageneck said. “It makes sense that folks are taking the perspective they are taking. There is a lot that goes into a school that people are not aware of.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
