Longtime Goleta official retires
Four hands better than two
Sustainability Manager Cindy Moore leaves after nearly 19 years - A4
Piano duo to perform with Santa Barbara Symphony during world premiere - B1
Our 166th Year
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Enrollment down Like the rest of California’s schools, Santa Barbara County and Santa Barbara Unified report fewer students
SB County has $38M in unallocated ARPA funds By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
RAFAEL MALDONADO / NEWS-PRESS FILE PHOTOS
Students are welcomed back during the 2020-2021 school year at McKinley Elementary School, where enrollment was at 272 at the time. Enrollment now stands at 244, following a pattern of decreasing enrollment in the Santa Barbara Unified School District and throughout the state.
In the Santa Barbara Unified School District, enrollment fell to 13,891 students in 2021-2022 from 14,205 in 2020-21.
By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER Enrollment in California’s public schools has plunged to below 6 million students. And declining enrollment is a trend seen in Santa Barbara as well, according to data from the California Department of Education and the Santa Barbara Unified School District. Statewide enrollment in all schools sits at 5,892,240 for the 2021-2022 academic year, according to the CDE. It’s the fifth year in a row statewide enrollment has declined, the department said, citing challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and a national trend of declining enrollment. Statewide enrollment in 20202021 was 6,000,523 students — meaning there was a decrease of nearly 110,000 students, or 1.8%, in the current academic year. Enrollment in 2019-2020 was 6,163,001 students, and 2018-2019 reported 6,186,278 students. In Santa Barbara County, 67,137 students were enrolled
in the 2021-2022 school year, a decrease from 67,470 students in 2020-2021 and 69,006 students in 2019-2020. For the 2018-2019 academic year, 69,379 students were enrolled, and 69,752 students were enrolled for the 2017-2018 school year. More specifically, 13,891 students were enrolled in the 2021-2022 school year in Santa Barbara Unified School District. Last year, 14,205 students were enrolled, and 14,538 students were enrolled in the district in 2019-2020. “Emerging from the pandemic and the chaos that it created within school districts across the country, our focus is returning to student outcomes,” Dr. Hilda Maldonado, superintendent of the Santa Barbara Unified School District, said in a statement to the News-Press. “We feel that student engagement at all levels will not only aid in stabilizing enrollment, but also put a spotlight on the rigorous and inclusive curriculum that Santa Barbara Unified others.” Dos Pueblos High School
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By KAITLYN SCHALLHORN NEWS-PRESS STAFF-WRITER
The state of the Goodland is strong. That was the message Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte gave to more
bucked the trend, however. It reported 2,020 students enrolled in the 2021-2022 academic year, up from 2,018 students in 20202021, 2,005 students in 2019-2020 and 1,988 students in the 20182019 school year. Santa Barbara High School
gained 37 students between the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years, but enrollment has declined since. The school reported 2,178 students enrolled for the 2021-2022 academic year. Please see ENROLLMENT on A6
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
State of Goleta is strong, Mayor Paula Perotte says
Enrollment is declining across Santa Barbara County, above, as well as throughout the state, below.
COURTESY PHOTO
“It is not enough for the state of our city to be strong today. It must be strong in preparing for the future,” said Goleta Mayor Paula Perotte.
than 100 people gathered at the Elks Lodge Wednesday evening for the annual State of the City event. But despite a post-pandemic recovery, more attention is needed for Goleta’s aging infrastructure, leaders said. “It is not enough for the state of our city to be strong today. It must be strong in preparing for the future,” Mayor Perotte said. “When you think about it, much of our city’s infrastructure and processes are rooted in the 20th century. While we are thankful for the public buildings, transportation infrastructure and parks we inherited from the last century, we are working hard to move them into the 21st century.” Mayor Perotte said Goleta has “an extensive repair process” totaling more than $6 million for its roads under way, with construction already ensuing on Cathedral Oaks Road, Hollister Avenue and Glen Annie Road. Additional work will commence on Ekwill Fowler Street Extension and Hollister Avenue Bridge, she said. Please see GOLETA on A6
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Santa Barbara County has more than $38 million in federal pandemic relief funding still to be allocated — and some of the money could be used to add needed positions. The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors has already committed about $52.5 million of American Rescue Plan Act funds, with the majority of that money earmarked for health and human services issues. An additional $38,355,837 has yet to be allocated, Nancy Anderson, Santa Barbara County’s Budget and Research Department director, told the board Thursday. Director Anderson presented an update on ARPA funding — how it’s been allocated and what still unspent money could be used for — to the board as part of a marathon series of budget workshops this week. The ARPA funds are essentially “a budget within a budget,” she said. Santa Barbara County has about $17.6 million in discretionary ARPA funding, which can be used for governmental services excluding debt, legal settlements and reserves. Ms. Anderson suggested earmarking the money for needed updates to the Public Safety Radio Network, which handles 9-1-1 calls and interagency communications. The current system is no longer supported for parts and updates and poses a significant risk to the county, according to the presentation given to the board. Additionally, the county has about $20.7 million in restricted ARPA funding. Officials found about 59 projects that could be eligible for these funds — however, those projects total $116 million. Eligible projects include the Isla Vista Community Center
sewer replacement and other improvements, hearing room improvements with closed captioning and Project Clean Water mandates. The funds could also be used to tackle court backlogs in the District Attorney’s and Public Defender’s departments. Other eligible projects included expansion requests from the Sheriff’s Office for its co-response team and community resource deputies in Orcutt and Montecito. “Projects not funded by ARPA can certainly be considered for other one-time funds by your board,” Director Anderson said. Supervisor Steve Lavagnino suggested using some of the “one-time” ARPA money to fund ongoing needs. Then, over the course of the few years that the federal funding would cover the position or project, the county could determine if the position is truly needed or if other funding could open up to cover the ongoing costs. “We’ve had so much one-time money available through ARPA that I don’t really see much on the one-time calendar that piques my interest as opposed to some of the things that are ongoing that I find very critical,” Supervisor Lavagnino said. Supervisor Bob Nelson also expressed interest in creating a “trial program” by allocating funding this way. The Board of Supervisors held a bevy of workshops this week to analyze budgetary needs throughout all facets of the county. The county budget for fiscal year 2022-2023 is estimated to be $1.4 billion with a “stable” outlook, according to presentations given this week. This is the fourth consecutive year no county departments need to propose a service level reduction.
Sudoku................. B3 Sports............... a3-4 Weather................ A6
Wednesday’s SUPER LOTTO: 8-10-14-17-40 Mega: 19
Thursday’s DAILY 4: 5-0-7-8
Tuesday’s MEGA MILLIONS: 2-8-14-20-31 Mega: 17
Thursday’s FANTASY 5: 18-24-28-31-39
Thursday’s DAILY DERBY: 02-05-07 Time: 1:48.49
Wednesday’s POWERBALL: 14-16-41-63-68 Meganumber: 26
Thursday’s DAILY 3: 0-6-2 / Midday 4-4-1