SBUnifiedBy Santa Barbara Unified School District
Santa Barbara Unified School District is accepting applications from interested citizens to serve on the District’s independent oversight committee with respect to its general obligation bonds, approved by District voters at the November 8, 2016 election and known as Measure I and J. The Committee consists of seven members, who meet quarterly to review and report on expenditures of funds to ensure bond money is used only for voter-approved purposes. At this time, there are five vacancies on the Committee that the Board seeks to fill (see attachment for current member terms and expiration dates):
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One (1) member shall be both a parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the District and active in a parent-teacher organization, such as the P.T.A. or a school site council.
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One (1) member active in a business organization representing the business community located in the District.
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One (1) member active in a senior citizens’ organization.
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One (1) member active in a bonafide taxpayers association.
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One (1) member of the community at-large.
Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and may not be employees or officials of the District, nor a vendor, contractor, or consultant to the District. Interested persons may obtain an application from the Business Services Office, located at 720 Santa Barbara Street, Santa Barbara, CA, or download the application from the District’s website at www.sbunified.org. Applications are due by 4:00 PM on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2023, at the Business Services Office, or to Allison Fore, Fiscal Administrative Assistant at afore@sbunified.org.
Bylaws 5.1-2
The Committee shall consist of at least seven (7) members appointed by the Board
from a list of candidates submitting written applications, and based on criteria established by Prop 39, to wit:
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One (1) member shall be the parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the District.
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One (1) member shall be both a parent or guardian of a child enrolled in the District and active in a parent-teacher organization, such as the P.T.A. or a school site council.
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One (1) member active in a business organization representing the business community located in the District.
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One (1) member active in a senior citizens’ organization.
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One (1) member active in a bonafide taxpayers association.
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Two (2) members of the community at-large.
5.2 Qualification Standards.
(a) To be a qualified person, he or she must be at least 18 years of age.
(b) The Committee may not include any employee, official of the District or any vendor, contractor or consultant of the District.
Interesting to see that Margie Yahyavi , the former Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Education Foundation, served on this “independent oversight committee,” since she was responsible for fund-raising for support of the school district. Although serving as a “business organization representative” she was hardly independent from the school district. How do they decide on these appointments?
Conflicts of interest go unchecked. Board members have and do vote for monies to go to non profits they’re on the boards of rather than recusing themselves. Sadly too many times this means monies from LCAP especially are not spent in the most effective ways nor is it in compliance .