Although student enrollments continued to drop slightly throughout the Santa Barbara School District-in both elementary and secondary levels-Santa Barbara High School witnessed a unexpected increase of 150 additional students over the year before. This, in turn, precipitated a last-minute scramble to get the extra students signed up in all the right classes, which resulted in 600 high school students having their semester course schedule dramatically altered during the first week into the new year. Because the State Legislature was late amending its budget, the school district wasn’t clear early on how many teachers it could afford to keep. Last spring, the district sent out pink slips to more than 60 teachers. By last week, it appeared all but one had been hired back. But because enrollment is down by 56 students at the elementary school level, more layoffs may be necessary. In the past two years, the district has cut its budgets by $8 million. Given recent cuts enacted at the state level, it appears the district will have to cut another $3 million in the months immediately ahead.
Tue Jun 17, 2025 | 08:33am