Starting this week, Santa Barbara community members have a chance to weigh in on potential career and technical education training programs for the former National Guard Armory site.
After purchasing the site in 2018, the Santa Barbara Unified School District plans to use the property at 700 E. Canon Perdido St. as a satellite site where the next generation of students can get hands-on experience in local industries.
This spring the district is holding four community listening sessions where teachers, students, and residents can share what programs they want to see at the armory.
The first listening session will be at La Colina Junior High at 4025 Foothill Road on Wednesday at 6 p.m-7:30 p.m.
The next session will be on April 21 at Goleta Valley Junior High at 6100 Stow Canyon Road in Goleta at 6 p.m-7:30 p.m.
There will also be a listening session at La Cumbre Junior High at 2255 Modoc Road on April 27 at 6 p.m-7:30 p.m.
The final listening session will be on May 12 at Santa Barbara Junior High at 721 E Cota St. at 6 p.m-7:30 p.m.
For those who can’t attend the listening sessions, there are surveys in English and Spanish for community members to share input.
The school district purchased the site for $11.6 million using Measure I funds, which means the site will be used as a satellite facility or for specialized programs, but not a full school location.
Thanks to the sale of Tatum property near San Marcos Growers last year, the district now has specific funding to turn the armory into a career and technical education hub.
The district already has 17 career and technical education programs at Dos Pueblos High School, San Marcos High School, Santa Barbara High School, Goleta Valley Junior High School, La Cumbre Junior High School and Santa Barbara Junior High School.
The armory site is meant to have new programs for students throughout the district, who will have to be transported to the site.
After the listening sessions, the district and architect team, 19six Architects, will develop the designs for the site, which will have to be reviewed and approved by the Santa Barbara school board. The board is set to review the plans this fall.
From there, the plans will have to be approved by the Department of Education before construction can begin.
