Gabe Escobedo, the chair of the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education, said last week’s controversial, eight-hour meeting about whether to cut music and theater classes “was one of the most difficult meetings I have ever had.”
“These are not easy decisions,” Escobedo said. “These are things we think about far in advance of the meeting and they stay with us far after.”
The school board voted to send layoff notices to 85 teachers. Teachers the next day received pink slips, including music and theater teachers. The district will likely reduce the number of layoff notices, but it won’t know the final number until May.
Escobedo shares his views on the potential cuts, as well as board member Celeste Kafri’s suggestion to cut top management positions instead of teachers, in the latest episode of Santa Barbara Talks with Josh Molina.
Escobedo said he understands desires to cut management positions, but such decisions need to be studied first.
“There are a lot of people in that room and on that dais who support those ideas,” Escobedo said. “My comments on Tuesday were that we were in the 11th hour in this process and with new ideas you have to really understand there are practical realities.”
The wide-ranging discussing also includes a conversation about diversity, equity and inclusion in schools, the Trump administration, and how Escobedo met California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Escobedo also shares his personal story of growing up in Ontario, California, with an incarcerated father, and overcoming poverty to purse public service.
Josh Talks About Transparency at Public Meeting
In a separate podcast, Josh Molina notes the challenges of asking the public to stay until past 2:30 a.m. for a public meeting.
Students and teachers stayed until the end even though they had to attend school the next morning.
“The idea that it is OK to have these meetings and have 100 people in this overflow room, with a hallway in the middle, in the back, watching it on TV, that’s not inclusion,” Molina said. “Think about the messages you are sending to the kids, the families, there’s not enough space here. But by the way, our cabinet members, they can be in this room. That’s not inclusion.”
Joshua Molina is journalist who currently writes for Noozhawk and teaches journalism at Santa Barbara City College. He formerly covered politics and land use for the San Jose Mercury News. Santa Barbara Talks is an independently owned podcast where Molina looks to bring together voices from all perspectives to discuss and provide solutions to the challenges related to housing, education, transportation and other community issues. Subscribe to his podcast here and consider a contribution here.