Santa Barbara Unified Opens to Electric Energy
By the Santa Barbara Unified School District
The Santa Barbara Unified School District opened its schools with a renewed — and collective — commitment to connections, unification and optimism.
And, in aligning as a district, the goals for the 2022-23 school year are quite clear.
“This upcoming year the district goals include the use of a Multi Tiered System of Support approach to identifying and removing barriers; improving early literacy; ensuring best teaching practices for our emergent multilingual learners; and improved climate and cultures at all schools so that everyone has a sense of belonging and connection regardless of socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, language or gender identity,” said Dr. Hilda Maldonado, the district’s superintendent.
“These are all pillars to what it means to be #WeAreUnified.”
Santa Barbara High senior Emily Pineda speaks to the staff about a teacher that impacted her life as Superintendent Hilda Maldonado and students Kavya Suresh, Isa Mireles and Jeamy Lynn Cruz watch on in support. (Courtesy photo)
Our teachers, employees, parents and students demonstrated a true spirit of hope and joy as schools returned on August 19 — with many teachers and administrators saying that “it felt like a pre-pandemic first day of school.”
This enthusiasm started well before the first day of school, as each school site hosted professional learning opportunities the week of August 8, followed by a district-led kick-off event at San Marcos High School on August 16.
And there’s even more reason for optimism, as a preliminary analysis of our state test scores shows gains for many student groups that surpass Santa Barbara Unified’s overall achievement.
This included promising results at seven elementary schools, two junior highs and one high school — all showing growth in both Math and English Language Arts.
“This exemplifies the rigor and commitment that Santa Barbara Unified teachers, support staff, students and parents have accomplished by working together,” said Dr. Maldonado.
Greeted by the cheerleading squads from all three area high schools, the kick-off event on August 16 featured student speakers that talked about how teachers have impacted their lives, while the community also got involved as Westerlay Orchids donated an orchid for every employee in partnership with the students’ Flower Empower clubs, while the Santa Barbara Education Foundation donated gift cards. There were also T-shirt and sticker giveaways that pointed to the district’s new “#WeAreUnified” mantra that will be seen in everything that we do.
Smiles and hugs abound as students returned to campus on August 19, 2022. (courtesy photo)
The kick-off event was an impactful way of welcoming back many familiar faces, while also greeting nearly 100 new teachers and about 15 new school-site administrators, many of whom were promoted from within.
The Human Resources department was relentless throughout the summer in filling our open positions, with only a handful remaining, including an assistant principal at La Cuesta/Alta Vista and a dean at Santa Barbara High. Both are being temporarily filled by retired administrators.
The district is also in the process of vetting candidates for the recently vacated principal position at McKinley Elementary.
The district is incredibly proud that every classroom had a teacher ready to greet their students, as the pandemic created chaos in assuring this connection the past two years.
“Santa Barbara Unified is proud of the many employees, teachers, counselors, nurses, who have remained steady in their commitment to supporting all students and families despite their own experiences during the pandemic,” said Dr. Maldonado.
“They are all Heroes of the Heart.”
36 Comments
-
5
-
-
Aug 23, 2022 01:41 AMOnly good wishes to the district, employees and students and their families!
-
2
-
4
-
Aug 23, 2022 07:55 AMHow's everyone loving the solar panel roof at La Cumbre Junior High? OMG! Bet ya didn't think that would happen. I recall it had to be installed over parking lots. But obviously (rightfully so) it was moved to not obstruct the houses directly across the street on Portesuello. So instead we get a non-Spanish tile architectural monstrosity of pure metal hovering on the field for all eyes to see. I'm sure the folks in the condos above are just joyous over their new view. But by all means. Make every new business not affiliated or connected with city/county administrators jump through hoops to put in an outdoor table!
-
4
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 08:43 AMSolar panels are offending you? They are an awesome thing to use locally and more people and places should have them. Yay SBUSD!
-
2
-
3
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:06 AMI believe it is the double standard that Haskel found offensive.
-
-
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:40 AMThe location of the solar panels is what they object to. I saw them just last week and wondered about the location myself. Not a great spot, to be honest. The ones at Monroe, however, were well placed.
-
2
-
3
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:49 AMSolar panels are ugly, but they won’t let forever. After 10-20 years it will cease producing enough electricity to be worthwhile and will be discarded.(hopefully in an environmentally responsive manner as they contain a lot of toxic chemicals). By then I expect solar panels will be well out of fashion and it is unlikely it will be replaced.
-
4
-
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:50 AMI drove by the solar panel structure two days ago and was impressed by it. It seems obvious to me that it can be used as a sheltered lunch area or perhaps eventually as parking. It is nice that the school people altered the location in the interest of the neighbors. Altogether seems like a win win. Thumbs up since you ask! (BTW, there is a lot of "non-Spanish tile" stuff on that campus, What is your opinion of the asphalt basketball courts for example?)
-
4
-
2
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:59 AMCHIP - not exactly. Solar panels such as these produce viable amounts of energy generally over 25 years, not 10. In addition, even at this time, solar panels are recyclable. Imagine how more efficient the tech for recycling spent panels and wind turbine components will be in 25 years. Heck, 25 years before today we barely had the internet. Now look where we are. Progress is great, as long as we allow science and tech to grow.
Don't worry so much! We're on the road to a green future, even if we have to drag half the country kicking and screaming out of the coal oil smoke clouds they love so much!
-
1
-
3
-
Aug 23, 2022 11:20 AMSac, it’s more like dragging people kicking and screaming into a future where electric service is intermittent, everything costs more than it used to, personal transportation is extremely limited, food is scarce, and the standard of living is less than what previous generations enjoyed. But on top of that, solar is not green, and a viable recycling process has yet to be developed. Here is the EPA’s website speculating about what a good recycling process might do, if it existed.
https://www.epa.gov/hw/solar-panel-recycling
And do a little research on how solar panels are manufactured, where they are manufactured, and how the materials the panels are made from are obtained. “Green” technology has a major environmental footprint. Ironically, the claimed reduction in CO2 emissions from “green” technology is actually being used to justify the environmental devastation and human rights abuses involved with rare earth mining in Africa and other parts of the world. It’s truly come full circle when the “green” movement is being used to justify destructive mining and manufacturing processes. Makes one wonder who is really behind it.
-
2
-
2
-
Aug 23, 2022 11:26 AM"a future where electric service is intermittent, everything costs more than it used to, personal transportation is extremely limited, food is scarce, and the standard of living is less than what previous generations enjoyed." - All because we're trying to use renewable energy? Man, your preferred media really got you spooked, huh?
The EPA link seems pretty positive about the future of recycling. Hardly a doomsday prediction.
-
1
-
3
-
Aug 23, 2022 11:56 AMSac, if the hypothetical recycling outlined by the epa could be done using an economically viable process that would be very positive indeed. Unfortunately, no such processes exist at this time. In addition, any recycling processes that are developed are unlikely to be economically viable. Such processes will almost certainly be extremely energy intensive, and will produce a number of toxic byproducts. For these reasons, the “recycling” will likely be done overseas. China is setting records for its coal consumption in order to produce the goods we want, like solar panels, at the lowest possible cost using cheap energy. Perhaps they will add more coal power generation capacity in order to more cost effectively power solar panel “recycling” processes.
https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/china-sees-biggest-growth-energy-coal-use-since-2011-2022-02-28/
-
1
-
3
-
Aug 23, 2022 12:02 PMAccurate Chip, and we need to avoid environmental NIMBYism and focus on the planet as a whole, not just the tiny sliver we live in. https://www.spglobal.com/commodityinsights/en/market-insights/latest-news/lng/051822-china-boosts-coal-output-to-offset-lower-gas-imports-high-prices
-
3
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 12:04 PM"exist at this time" - CHIP..... how else will it exist unless we put in an effort to make it exist? Time to stop the "all or nothing" approach to everything. It may not be perfect yet, but it's still better than coal.
-
1
-
-
Aug 23, 2022 03:09 PMHaskels: "It's a bird, it's a plane, no it's a non-Spanish tile architectural monstrosity of pure metal hovering over us!"
"Uhh sir, this is a Wendy's..."
-
2
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:28 AMThis is terrific! Progress is a great thing!
-
-
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:36 AMBack to school is always fun. Generally, though, it's best to let others tell you how you're doing... whether good, bad, exciting, boring, or otherwise....
-
1
-
-
Aug 23, 2022 09:41 AMIt may have felt like the first day of pre-pandemic school, but we got the COVID notification before day 2 even started, and they sent the kid home with a rapid test.
-
2
-
4
-
Aug 23, 2022 10:34 AMOver a decade of poor academics and they’re “ identifying and removing barriers; improving early literacy; ensuring best teaching practices for our emergent multilingual learners; and improved climate and cultures at all schools so that everyone has a sense of belonging and connection regardless of socioeconomic status, race/ethnicity, language or gender identity,”
Really? Finally? For sure? Nah, can’t be true. They r never tried to improve academics before.
And the inclusiveness, well the SMHS Counselor stood at the board meeting in June and made racial and political attacks on a concerned parent at the podium while the entire board sat there smiling.
Not very inclusive.
And they’ve purposefully divided the kids and peer pressured them and bribed them to get the COVID shots regardless of the child’s health background. Regardless of the fda disclosures stating school aged children are at the highest risk of myocarditis.
After three high school students dropped dead of heart issues they kept pushing the vaccine clinics.
I tell you what, sign me up. They’ve proven they really care about academics and Childrens health. NOT. Thank God no more Capps and Ford.
-
3
-
2
-
Aug 23, 2022 11:42 AMAbandon efforts at clean energy because we haven't perfected recycling tech and clear-cut/log the forests to save endangered species' habitats, right?
-
1
-
2
-
Aug 23, 2022 11:57 AMNo. Just as we shouldn't abandon all fossil fuel use because we haven't perfected a suitable and reliable clean energy replacement.
-
1
-
2
-
Aug 23, 2022 12:34 PMIt feels very strange for me to say this, but I would highly recommend Michael Moore’s recent documentary on “green” energy. He evaluates a number of popular “green” technologies and their environmental impact. It’s available at no cost via the link below.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zk11vI-7czE
-
2
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 12:50 PMCHIP - I don't care for any of Mr. Moore's films, so can you share with us what his conclusion on green energy was? Do we just abandon it? It seems that that's what you prefer. Is that correct?
-
1
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 01:10 PMSac, I don’t care for Moore’s films either and I think he deserves a healthy degree of skepticism. However, I think he raises a number of concerns in this particular film that appear to be legitimate. One major concern is the molten salt solar facility out in the desert on the way to Vegas. Moore points out that hundreds of acres of ancient Joshua trees were destroyed in order to clear the site for the facility. In addition, there is a major risk of damage if the salt were to cool and solidify. In order to prevent that, there is a gas plant on the other side of the highway that is used to keep the salt hot and produce electricity overnight and when the sun is not out. As a result of this arrangement, they could have just built the gas plant, saved all the Joshua trees and expense of building the molten salt setup, and achieved about the same thing. He also addressed mining the high grade silica needed to make the glass for solar panels which involves blasting off mountain tops near mt Rushmore as well as the use of coal/oil to make the heat required to make the silica into glass. That’s just a couple of the highlights. As much as I don’t generally care for Michael Moore, this is worth watching.
-
2
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 01:14 PMPar for the course from our carbon propagandists.
Just a few mentions of how ridiculous and misleading Moore's film is:
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/what-michael-moore-new-film-gets-wrong-about-renewable-energy
https://www.power-technology.com/analysis/industry-debunks-michael-moore-renewable-energy-documentary/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidrvetter/2020/05/13/what-michael-moores-new-climate-documentary-gets-wrong-about-renewables/?sh=5c04dbbd464d
-
3
-
1
-
Aug 23, 2022 01:30 PMCHIP - so did he suggest we abandon all renewable energy progress because the implementation isn't 100% green? THAT is the question here. OF COURSE oil & gas will be used in some production, we're not at a 100% renewable energy level yet. Of COURSE there will be some disadvantages and collateral damage to animals and the environment, but it's not as much as with non-renewable sources. No, renewable energy sources are not yet perfect and not yet 100% green and no one ever said they were. The point is - we can't just throw our hands up and fire up the coal factories just because we haven't perfected renewables.
-
2
-
1
-
Aug 24, 2022 04:40 AMChip suddenly likes MM because MM has been influenced by climate science deniers and is spewing falsehoods.
-
1
-
3
-
Aug 24, 2022 08:18 AMClimate apocalypse deniers do not equal climate science deniers. Two VERY different things.
-
3
-
1
-
Aug 24, 2022 12:52 PM8:18 - Yeah, right. That's like saying you can see the train bearing down on you at 50 mph as you stand on the tracks 100 yards away, but you still think you don't have to get out of the way. Willful ignorance.
-
1
-
3
-
Aug 24, 2022 12:58 PMNo @ 12:52, that's climate apocalypse / climate alarmists your describing, and not accurate to our planets current or future condition.
-
1
-
-
Aug 26, 2022 01:37 PMMichael Moore has built his life on spewing falsehoods.
-
1
-
1
-
Aug 24, 2022 07:33 PMLots of exitement with both sides of the fence about the solar pannels , pro and con. The bidding process was questionable with conflict of interest.
What is absoultley inaccurate and misleading is the statement "a preliminary analysis of our state test scores shows gains for many student groups that surpass Santa Barbara Unified’s overall achievement"
This paints a different picture, no wonder the teachers are up in arms, they know it's not working.
The numbers are skewed because there are a few schools in the district that perform above grade average that distort the numbers as most schools are performing below State average in Reading and Math so it only "appears" results are better, they are actually worse. Further they are not giving us the back up numbers in this artice. Where's the beef?
-
1
-
1
-
Aug 24, 2022 08:09 PMLorax So true scores have not improved . They were painfully low for the subgroups before the pandemic and only got worse after. Only 2% of the emergent multilingual students take the A-G ( a series of high school classes that make you eligible to apply to a UC) only 6% of students with learning differences take the A-G's. This means that less doors are open to them because their literacy skills were to weak to manage the tougher classes. At La Cuesta only 8% are proficient in literacy and 2% in math. This article is about making the Superintendent look good. It is not an honest look at the unmet needs of our most vulnerable students. If we had proactive policies like automatic testing , summer school and summer interventions for all that wanted them, and using the best approach to reading not balanced literacy approach which 22 states have banned because it does not work for the majority of students. This Superintendent is not using best practices for literacy and if you look at specific subgroups you'll see the majority of students are not able to read proficiently. And that's why the can't the A-G's. This Superintendent should pay less attention to looking good and more attention to being proactive and focusing on meeting the unmet needs of the majority of students.
-
1
-
1
-
Aug 24, 2022 09:58 PMSee the power of a headline, which Edhat almost certainly wrote? It definitely redirected the energy! ;-)
I'm sure Ed didn't intend this but it was not a good headline. Sure they learned from it.
Good luck to all students and their families, and every staff member this year!
-
1
-
-
Aug 24, 2022 10:02 PMWe as a society cannot expect schools to do everything. I was read to and there were books in my house before I could read or speak.
I'm not blaming poor disadvantaged people who work 2 jobs, but EVERY parent must value reading and education!
Schools just can't do it all.
I'm all in for social supports of free school food meals, adult language ed for parents, and many other steps.
And I don't blame the schools for what parents should do.
Yeah, I'm all for free birth control!
-
2
-
-
Aug 24, 2022 10:57 PM729: Some people will learn how to read easily but the majority will not. Just being read to and having books in the house is not enough to make a child a proficient reader. Maybe schools can't do it all, but then communities must step up. Literacy is vital if you want someone to be a critical thinker, self sufficient and avoid the school to prison pipeline. The schools are obligated to offer a free and appropriate education where students make meaningful progress year to year. Some of our most vulnerable students test scores have been stagnant for years because our district clings to an approach to reading that is based on guessing ( the cueing system) . Whose own author, Lucy Calkins has back peddled on . All students learn to read when you use an approach based on decoding, breaking words apart to sound letter combinations. Students are behind because our district is not using the best approach. Also we need to be more proactive and offer automatic testing, teacher training and reduce class size. Then all kids will be able to read proficiently. Not all parents speak english yet their children need to learn to read at school. Otherwise they are not getting a free and appropriate education. Look at Mississippi. It implemented the changes I am sharing and it students are doing far, far better than California. Politics and profits of major publishers play a role in why some districts clinging to outdated , failed approaches. If schools can't do it alone, communities must offer summer school and reading interventions until 90% can read by end of third. Otherwise you are supporting the school to prison pipeline. America already incarcerates more people than any other country. And over 70% of immates are functionally illiterate. So communities need to own this and turn it around when over half can't read. Literacy is a human right because without it you can barely survive.
-
-
-
Aug 25, 2022 07:07 AMI get it. I too was taught to read with phonics; I still sound out words occasionally.
I agree with many of your points.
But -- teachers can't do it all!
There are too many houses without any books.
Too many people think it's a bad thing to not be basically educated.