On Friday, newly elected members of the Santa Barbara Unified school board were officially sworn in, following the district’s farewell to longtime boardmember Wendy Sims-Moten earlier in the week.
This election marked the first time all trustees will represent specific districts of Santa Barbara and Goleta. And although there is only one “new” face, the three electees vowed to make some real changes while behind the dais — from rebuilding relationships with teachers to improving student performance.
For example, boardmember Bill Banning — who previously served two years as a provisional at-large trustee and will now serve a new four-year term in District 3 — said he wants to improve communication with the public, district staff, and the media.
“School boardmembers seem to rubber stamp everything the superintendent puts forward, but that’s not the case; there’s a lot of thought and questions that go into it,” he said on election night.
Banning beat out his opponents, Phyliss Cohen and Chris Wichowski, by a large margin, taking 52 percent of the vote, while Cohen snagged 31 percent and Wichowski took just 17 percent.
Boardmembers Sunita Beall and Celeste Kafri had sweeping victories as well, with each taking more than 60 percent of the vote in their districts. Beall will serve a new four-year term in District 2 after serving one year as an at-large trustee, and Celeste Kafri, the new blood of the group, will serve four years in District 5.
Beall and Kafri emphasized making literacy a priority, as well as what Beall called “customer service” — opening up collaborative “channels of discussion” with teachers, students, and community members to identify and tackle shared goals.
“Parents want children to be in school and enjoy being in school,” Beall said. “We really need to engage our community in a way that makes them feel good about the education system.”
