Noozhawk invited candidates for Santa Barbara Unified School District board races on the ballot to answer questions about important local issues.
Two seats are on the ballot this year with five candidates running.
The candidates for Trustee Area 1 are financial analyst Mark Philibosian and activist Jacqueline Inda Karlsen.
The Trustee Area 4 candidates are incumbent Rose Muñoz, nonprofit board member Valerie Amparan and Kevin Guay. Read that Q&A and other election coverage.
Only voters in specific trustee areas will choose the winners of the races. A map showing the trustee areas can be found by clicking here.
Read the answers submitted by Philibosian and Inda Karlsen below.
Mark Philibosian
Question: What experience and expertise would you bring to the school board?
Philibosian: I know how to read a budget, ask hard questions and stay focused on results that benefit all SBUSD students.
I’m a CFA charterholder with an MBA from UCLA Anderson. I spent three years at BlackRock and most recently was a management consultant at Ernst & Young, leading large transformation programs: setting goals, building budgets, tracking progress and holding teams accountable.
That is the core work of a school board: Set direction, oversee the budget and hold the superintendent accountable.
Education runs in my family. My mother was a teacher, and I’m married to a Santa Barbara teacher of 12 years. This is also about my family’s future. We have two young children, ages 2 years and 5 months. I grew up in Goleta, graduated from Dos Pueblos High School and know the needs of our community.
I’ve also worked directly with students and seen education around the world. In New York City, I volunteered for a year helping students read at a local school. I spent four months in rural Armenia with the Children of Armenia Fund, supporting education in rural villages, and I studied abroad in New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Question: What do you think are the three most pressing issues the Santa Barbara Unified School District faces over the next four years? How would you address these issues?
Philibosian:
- Reading and math. Nearly half of our students are not meeting state standards in English. That has to be our first priority. I want literacy specialists in our elementary and middle schools giving students focused, small-group help, clear goals for reading and math at every school, and a progress report at every board meeting. Families should know exactly where their student stands and what the plan is.
- A sustainable budget. The district has faced serious deficit projections and shrinking reserves. I’ll push for a five-year plan to balance the budget and rebuild reserves, a firm reserve target, and cuts to outside consultants and central-office costs before anything that touches the classroom.
- Students with special needs and English learners. These students and their families too often go unheard. The state has also flagged our district for significant disproportionality in how students are identified for special education. We need a specific plan — invest earlier with better screening, target support school by school where it is needed, support our family liaisons, and keep parents informed, especially as students move up to junior high and high school.
Underneath all three is accountability. The board’s job is to set clear goals and hold leadership to them.
Question: How would you approach staff negotiations during tight budget years?
Philibosian: With respect and transparency, and by protecting the classroom first.
This is personal for me. My mother was a teacher and my wife is a Santa Barbara teacher of 12 years. I’ve seen the extra hours and how much teachers give their students. When negotiations turn adversarial, morale suffers, good teachers leave and students pay the price.
First, open the books early. Teachers, staff and the district should be working from the same numbers, shared well before bargaining begins, so there is no mistrust about where the money goes.
Second, protect the classroom first. When budgets are tight, the first cuts should come from outside consultants and central-office overhead, not from the people working directly with students.
Third, plan ahead. Many hard negotiations come from budget crises that a sound multi-year plan could have prevented. Balanced budgets and healthy reserves give the district room to treat its people fairly.
Finally, our goal should be giving teachers what they need to be at their best, including pay that lets them live in the community they serve. Santa Barbara is an expensive place to live, and recruiting and keeping great teachers is one of the best investments we can make in student success.
Question: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Philibosian: I’m especially proud to be endorsed by the Santa Barbara Independent.
School board races are nonpartisan, and I think voters want an independent, trusted judge of who is best prepared to do the job. That is what the Independent’s endorsement represents. In it, the Independent wrote that I know “how to read data when it comes to test scores and expenditures and revenues,” and that “if you can’t do high finance, you’ve got no business on the school board.” Strong finances and honest data on student results are exactly what I’ll bring to the board.
I’m running because our students deserve better, and I believe we can change the results with the right focus and real urgency.
I’m a parent with two young children who will grow up in this district, and I’m not going anywhere. My approach is simple: honesty, integrity and results.
Jacqueline Inda Karlsen
Question: What experience and expertise would you bring to the school board?
Karlsen: As the president of the Hispanic Chamber Foundation for our region, during the darkest days of the pandemic, I championed economic development strategies that uplifted financial resilience. I have dedicated my leadership in strengthening community partnerships and creating meaningful lasting change. I have also helped build successful SBUSD school bond initiatives and collaborated with our educational partners to establish best practices advancing education.
My leadership extends beyond advocacy; it is rooted in turning challenges into action and partnerships into positive change.
Today, our students are being asked to walk into classrooms, focus on learning and succeed academically while they feel unseen and unsafe both in our schools and in our region. At the same time, our school district is confronting racism and systemic inequities without a clear, comprehensive path toward healing and meaningful progress.
Question: What do you think are the three most pressing issues the Santa Barbara Unified School District faces over the next four years? How would you address these issues?
Karlsen: We must put our funding priorities back where they belong: in our classrooms and with the people who serve our students. Our teachers and classified employees should not have to continually fight for the resources while administration compensation continues to grow. I will explore administration caps, push for greater accountability in district spending, explore responsible limits on administrative expenditures, and advocate for directing more resources toward our schools for our students. I will always stand to uplift a sustainable budget without placing financial stability over the needs of our students.
We must also address declining enrollment by listening to families and addressing their challenges to unite in investments that provide supportive services to make every school a place where every child can thrive. We must also tackle the challenges of declining enrollment to reimagine our facilities and build innovative partnerships that create meaningful career pathways for all of our students.
Then, we must confront racism and ensure every student is heard, respected and is safe from harm. No child should have to fight to be seen, believed or supported within our schools. I will advocate for meaningful responsiveness to reported incidents of harm.
For decades, I have advocated for policies that create better opportunities for our children. I will bring that same commitment to the school board, turning community voices into action and ensuring that our decisions reflect the needs of the people our schools exist to serve.
Our children cannot wait for the right moment. We must make the right choices now — with our budgets, our policies and our leadership — to put students first.
Question: How would you approach staff negotiations during tight budget years?
Karlsen: I believe that even in the toughest budget years, our teachers and classified staff deserve a genuine seat at the table. I have stood with our teachers and have earned their trust.
As a school board member, I would approach negotiations with a commitment to honest dialogue, fiscal responsibility and a clear understanding that our employees are the heart of our schools.
I will continue to stand up for our teachers and classified employees and work toward fair sustainable solutions.
Our teachers and classified employees trust me to stand with them as we face these challenges with positive solutions.
Question: Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Karlsen: I am Jacqueline Inda Karlsen, born and raised in Santa Barbara on the Eastside. I am running to fill the Latino seat on the school board. I am the leading voice that will represent the constituents of my district and uplift all our students.
Our children are among the most precious members of our community. They are our future. We must never place balancing budgets before the very real needs of our teachers and students.
This November, I respectfully ask for your vote because your vote empowers our neighbors and the children of this city. Together, we can uplift the voices of our teachers and defend our Democratic values for generations to come. Together, we will make a solid difference in our schools.
These answers have been lightly edited for style and formatting.
Additional candidate Q&As will be published on Noozhawk in the coming days.
Read more about local candidates and issues in Noozhawk’s Elections section.
