The Santa Barbara Unified School Board plans to appoint a replacement for member Laura Capps.
Capps has served six years on the school board, but was elected to the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors in June. She will take office either in December or January, depending on the outcome of the 37th District California Assembly race.
Capps’ predecessor as Second District Supervisor, Gregg Hart, is running for the Assembly seat in the November election.
“I’m honored to be sworn in January of 2023 as the next Second District County Supervisor and by law will need to step down from the school board right before,” Capps told Noozhawk. “That timing could move up by a few weeks depending if Supervisor Hart is elected to the Assembly.”
The school board approved the appointment process 4-0 on Tuesday evening, with member Kate Ford absent.
Once Capps departs, the board will commence an appointment process. Since the appointee will serve out the remaining two years of Capps’ term, they can live anywhere within the Santa Barbara Unified School District boundaries.
The District plans to advertise the board seat vacancy in local media, school sites and the district’s website.
The appointment process will cost between $10,000 and $30,000, as opposed to a special election, which would have cost between $700,000 and $900,000.
By law, the district will need to complete the process within 60 days of Capps’ resignation.
Sheriff’s Deputy Assigned to Schools
The school board Tuesday night also approved a memorandum of understanding for a Community Resource Deputy at Dos Pueblos High School and Goleta Valley Junior High School.
The Sheriff’s Office deputy will patrol in and around Dos Pueblos High School and Goleta Valley Junior High School campuses, and other areas where students congregate. In addition, they will respond to calls, be on campus, and respond to issues designated by school principals.
For now the deputy will only patrol at those two schools. The board plans to consider a plan for San Marcos High School at a later time.
“This is tricky,” Capps said. “Uvalde (mass shooting at a Texas school) hadn’t happened when we started this and now we have such urgency to make sure we do everything we can to make our schools safe. But yet we have heard first-hand what an armed officer does to our students. We need to try and find a balance. That’s not just a status achievement. That means continually trying to achieve that balance.”
Tuesday’s agreement comes after the district removed a school resource deputy from San Marcos High School in 2021, at the request of student groups.
Many students believe that armed law enforcement officers on campus unfairly target students of color and other underrepresented groups and contribute to a feeling of unsafety. The group wants to work with the district administration to find alternatives to officers to help provide services for students and support their needs.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
