Elementary school students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District have experienced a 15% increase in reading test scores, but a drop of 8% in math test scores, according to data presented at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
Chronic absenteeism is also up at two schools, Cleveland Elementary and Harding University Partnership. At Harding, absenteeism jumped about 6% from the year prior.
At the junior high and high school levels, the number of students with three or more Ds or Fs has increased from the year prior.
“With these higher rates of D and F grades, while a D is a passing grade, students still earn a diploma, but as we know it is beyond the diploma, it’s college career readiness that are students are entitled to and we want to ensure every student has,” said Shawn Carey, assistant superintendent of secondary education.
“We know that the pandemic conditions have exacerbated these data patterns. We know we are not alone in that; that is something that other districts are contending with regionally and even across the nation.”
Carey said every student who is receiving a D or an F is having a one-on-one counseling session to address the issue.
New board member Virginia Alvarez, who was sworn in Friday, wanted to know what programs exist to reach out to students with chronic absenteeism.
“I am sure everyone is as concerned as I am, when you see these grades, and the decline in math, and the increase in Ds and Fs,” Alvarez said. “I think we need to do more.”
The district also has seen a dropoff of about 406 students in enrollment.
Since Santa Barbara County is still in the purple tier on the state’s COVID-19 reopening framework, it must apply for a waiver to reopen schools. The case count, however, is still too high for the county to accept waiver requests.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District has a waiver ready to go and to submit once the case count drops. As of now, the earliest that elementary schools in Santa Barbara could reopen with the waiver is February.
The district has had about 25 students and staff members test positive for COVID-19 since it opened cohorts — smaller student groups — in the fall.
Assistant Superintendent Frann Wageneck said the cases have been contained.
“We haven’t had those 25 individuals transmit the virus to any other students on our campuses or district offices, to our knowledge,” Wageneck said.
Karen McBride, president of the Santa Barbara Teachers Association, urged the board and administration to lobby other government officials to allow teachers and staff to be among the first to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
“Getting teachers vaccinated would go miles,” McBride said, in terms of embracing a reopening.
The Santa Barbara district, which uses a webinar format and does not livestream its meetings on You Tube like some other government entities in region, was still meeting late Tuesday night to talk about its waiver application.
The Goleta Union School District board also met Tuesday night.
New board member Vicki Ben-Yaacov was sworn in, and Sholeh Jahangir took her second oath of office after getting re-elected in November.
Jahangir handed over the board president position to Luz Reyes-Martin.
Jahangir offered a heartfelt message to the community about her year as president during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s not the year I expected,” Jahangir said. “It’s not the role I wanted to lead in. But I hope I led you all well. To every family out there that I couldn’t fix the problems on, I want you to know I am very sorry and I did my very best. I carry you in my heart.”
Board member Susan Epstein also stepped down after 16 years. She chose not to run for re-election. Several people spoke on her contributions to the community.
Board member Richard Mayer said Epstein demonstrated intelligence, inspiring leadership and a drive to get things done.
“When Susan Epstein joined this board, Goleta hit the jackpot,” Mayer said. “Everyone who cares about education has benefitted from your tenure on the board. I will miss your keen insights, I will miss your depth of knowledge, I will miss your broad understanding of the district, I will miss your collegiality, but most of all, I’ll just plain miss you.”
— 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.