Improving math and reading proficiency, solving the $8 million budget deficit and picking a new superintendent were all discussed by four candidates running for the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Trustees at the Santa Barbara Reading Coalition candidate forum Thursday night.
The candidates for Trustee Area 1, financial analyst Mark Philibosian and activist Jacqueline Inda, were joined at the forum by the Trustee Area 4 candidates, incumbent Rose Muñoz and sales manager Valerie Amparan.
Kevin Guay, who’s also running for Trustee Area 4, did not respond to the coalition’s invitation.
The event was moderated by local political commentator Jerry Roberts.
The candidates shared what they would bring to the board that they think is currently lacking.
Amparan said that with her experience with the Junior League of Santa Barbara, an organization that works to advance women in leadership, she knows how to navigate bureaucracy and what it takes to bring forth change. She would also use her sales experience to align community stakeholders.
“Coming to the school board, I realize that there is a large uphill battle to fight, but that’s not without resources that we have currently in our community at our disposal,” Amparan said. “I’m a collaborator, and currently I don’t see collaboration happening at the school board level as much as it could be.”
As a born and raised Santa Barbara resident, Inda, co-founder of the Greater Santa Barbara Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, said she has decades of experience and connections to form collaborations, and she would be focused on representing minority students.
“The majority-minority protected district needs to be continuously protected, so that everybody has a voice and a seat at that table,” Inda said. “Because it’s not about privilege; it’s about access.”
Muñoz, the only current board member running for re-election, agreed that the board needs more collaboration, but she acknowledged that there has been work with the community to develop workforce housing for employees.
“One of our big problems is retention, recruiting and retention of staff,” Muñoz said. “We get staff to come here and we hire them, but then they don’t stay because housing is so unaffordable.”
As a financial analyst, Philibosian said he would want to focus on setting long-term plans to address budget issues and declining enrollment.
“When we think about rounding out what the board needs, and when we think about the challenges that we’re going to be facing in the coming years, I think I bring a lot of experience that is really important as we make these long-term decisions,” Philibosian said, “and then make sure we properly adhere to them and see the expected results.”
When asked what candidates could take from other school districts to improve Santa Barbara’s standardized test scores, Muñoz, elected in 2018, said the district has learned to give teachers time to collaborate on ideas.
“What we have found is that we need to understand the teachers and their need to collaborate,” Muñoz said. “They have PLCs (professional learning communities), they have learning communities where they get together and compare notes as to how their students are learning.”
Amparan said she would want the district to reach out to other districts across the country that are seeing significant improvements to see if Santa Barbara can implement a pilot program using their techniques.
Additionally, Philibosian and Amparan both said the district needs concrete goals on its website with specifics to work toward.
“We’re a brilliant community with the most educated experts,” Amparan said. “We need to use our resources and really think about what’s most important. If our website’s not showing goals and attainable goals for us to meet, how is that a focus?”
Philibosian added that the district needs strong training with specialized reading coaches, and strong leadership that can get the community on the same page about the goals.
“Without setting those measurable goals for our own district, it’s really hard to understand the progress, where we should be committing time,” Philibosian said.
Inda said that because Santa Barbara receives students from Goleta and Carpinteria, the district needs to partner with surrounding school districts.
“If we don’t start working with our partners and addressing things like achievement gaps and reading proficiencies, and we focus only inward because we want to protect our kids, we miss the target of working with people, of the children who are going to be in our junior highs and our high schools,” Inda said. “By that time, it’s too late.”
Roberts also asked the candidates about what criteria they would use for selecting a future superintendent.
Hilda Maldonado has been the district’s superintendent since 2020 and has received her fair share of criticism over the years. He contract was extended in 2023 through 2026.
Philibosian said he thinks the district needs someone who has demonstrated the ability to bring up test scores, balance a budget and has a sense of urgency to do so.
“When you’re thinking about trying to deal with these budgetary issues, when you’re trying to deal with rising numbers, proficiency, both in math and ELA, that takes someone who really knows how to do it and has done it before,” Philibosian said
Amparan said the superintendent should be open to different perspectives, be transparent, be accountable to their goals, be authentic and own their results.
“Owning your results can mean you can be really proud and champion your team when you get it right,” Amparan said, “but you also got to acknowledge when you get it wrong and pivot and move forward.”
Inda said the district needs someone who collaborates with schools and communities and can take instruction from board policies.
“We’ve gotten used to policies coming from administration to the board for evaluation,” Inda said. “Our board is only driven to create policies, to make changes in our spaces so that children can learn. If that’s our objective, then our superintendent and all of the staff and all of the people in the administration ought to respond rather than create.”
Muñoz said they would have to look at the track record of any prospective superintendents to see whether they have effectively collaborated with schools, addressed mental health needs and have a background that reflects the community.
In a rapid-fire question, Roberts asked all of the candidates to raise their hand if they would be inclined to renew Maldonado’s contract.
Everyone stayed still, and silent — except for Muñoz.
“As an incumbent, I don’t know that I could answer that,” she said.
Voters in Trustee Areas 1 and 4 can decide between the candidates themselves on Nov. 3.
