He was the first person in his family to go to college, and 40 years later, Bill Banning is still focused on breaking down barriers in education.

“My whole career in public education has been based around the idea that it’s giving every child an opportunity to learn,” Banning said. “Whether that looks like something when I started my career, now it’s even more important, with all the various interest groups. Equity, I am absolutely on board with providing an equitable education experience.”

Banning, the understated, unassuming candidate for the open seat on the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education, won a coveted appointment at the Jan. 12 meeting, putting the cherry on the top of a career rich in leadership.

Banning, a former high school band teacher, human resources director and, most recently, superintendent of the Goleta Union School District, will now oversee Santa Barbara Unified, alongside board members Virginia Alvarez and Gabe Escobedo, Rose Munoz and board president Wendy Sims-Moten.

He was appointed to replace Laura Capps, who won a seat on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors.

Banning stood out among a crowded field of qualified candidates for his experience as a former superintendent, lifelong career in educational leadership positions and ability to “hit the ground running.”

“Mr. Banning has a very strong background, very strong knowledge and is very well-rounded at understanding the board’s role, administration’s role and a true advocate for students,” Alvarez said. “Plus, his knowledge of the fiscal side.”

Banning doesn’t bring the brash or the ego of a politician seeking an elected seat. In professional and private settings, he displays a quiet confidence and an air of collaboration.

He was born in the San Gabriel Valley. His family moved to San Clemente in Orange County while he was in the first grade. He eventually went to Cal State University, Fullerton, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in music.

“I decided in high school I wanted to be a band director, a music teacher,” Banning said.

He taught music, worked at a junior high, traveled internationally and worked at a nonprofit organization for a few years. He realized he missed public education and jumped back in.

He worked as a high school band teacher in Escondido, while juggling classes in computers and coding.

Those skills led him to a career in administration. He worked as an assistant principal at a high school, and as an elementary school principal and two separate schools in Fallbrook. He worked as a human resources director in Solana Beach for seven years, and then took the job in Goleta as superintendent in 2012.

In Goleta, he worked on a strategic plan and the Local Control and Accountability Plan. Much of it was based in technology and new ways to create learning spaces in the classroom. It was great work that would come into play when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

“We didn’t realize at the time, but we were really preparing our teachers and staff and our kids with everything they needed to be as successful as possible in this virtual learning environment,” Banning said.

Banning joins the board at a time of transition for the school district. Superintendent Hilda Maldonado’s style of leadership resulted in criticisms in 2022 and sweeping changes in her cabinet, but much of the uproar during the past year has subsided, and Maldonado seems to have settled into her role more comfortably.

Banning said he isn’t there to shake things up or challenge the superintendent. He respects the role.

“I didn’t really come in with any kind of agenda to say, ‘This is what needs to be improved,'” Banning said. “The board needs to understand its role inherently, in supporting the administration, and if there are questions about it, evaluating it and modifying it if necessary, but honestly I think the board that is in place right now is a really good group of people.”

Banning had some background with Alvarez. He was on the board of the Goleta Noontime Rotary Club and Alvarez’s son, Nathan, won an award for “Teen of the Year.” Banning said he met her in that capacity.

“We ran into each other from time to time,” Banning said.

Banning said he sought the appointment to give back to a career in education that had blessed him. But he discovered more than that.

“The whole process has reinvigorated me and brought me back into education,” Banning said. “I am very excited about it and I am looking forward to being part of this team. This is a really critical and important time for Santa Barbara Unified District. I know there’s been a lot of controversies over the past several years. This is a very a critical moment.”

Banning will serve out the final two years of Capps’ term. He won’t be able to run for the re-election because of the recent move to district elections; he doesn’t live in the district. He was able to replace Capps because she was elected before district elections.

Sims-Moten pushed heavily for Banning to get appointed.

She said Banning would bring the steadiness that the board needs.

“We know we have been through some unsteady times,” Sims-Moten said. “We need to have the steady hand going forward, strengthening the board, strengthening the knowledge and just his appreciation and purview, having been a superintendent, having been in this community and understanding that.”