School Competition

With enrollment declining at Carpinteria High School for the
sixth year in a row, new Carpinteria Unified School District
Superintendent Paul Cordeiro has undertaken an aggressive campaign
to attract new students from outside the district. This week,
Cordeiro held an open house preceded by a media and advertising
blitz publicizing the school’s offerings. He plans to hold focus
groups in March debriefing parents who left the district. The
school has lost more than one-third of its students during six
years, dropping its head count to 825. The decline may be
self-perpetuating, since attendance determines school funding.
According to Santa Barbara District spokesperson Barbara Keyani,
programs in Santa Barbara attract students from its wealthy feeder
districts, as well as from Carpinteria.