Candidate Forum Scheduled for Santa Barbara and Goleta School Board Races

Numerous school board elections are on the November ballot countywide. A virtual forum for two of those many districts, the Goleta elementary schools (GUSD) and Santa Barbara elementary and secondary schools (SBUSD), will be held on Monday, October 3, 2022, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. via Zoom. There are a total of eleven Goleta and Santa Barbara school board candidates, and all have been invited to this candidate forum.

Co-sponsors for this event are the Coalition for Neighborhood Schools, The Resource Santa Barbara, and the Santa Barbara Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The forum will be jointly moderated by former SBUSD school board member Lanny Ebenstein.and Jerry Roberts of Newsmakers.

This is the first election since almost all school districts countywide have switched from at-large to district elections. As a result of the switch to district elections, there are many more candidates, drawing from smaller geographical trustee areas than in the past under the at-large system. Many candidates have come forward countywide seeking a seat on these newly-formed trustee areas for elementary, secondary, and community college districts, as well as for the County Board of Education, which oversees all county school districts.

Here is the list of candidates invited to this Candidate Forum:

Santa Barbara Elementary & Secondary (SBUSD)

SBUSD Tr. Area 1 (Santa Barbara Eastside and Westside): Efigenia Banales, Gabe Escobedo, Dan La Berge

SBUSD Tr. Area 4 (South Goleta): Phebe Mansur, Rose Munos

Goleta Elementary (GUSD)

GUSD Tr. Area 1 (North Goleta): Caroline Abate, Richard Meyer

GUSD Tr. Area 3: (Central Goleta North and South of 101): Bert Haley, Christy Lozano, Emily Zacarias

GUSD Tr. Area 5 (Isla Vista to Gaviota South of 101): Ethan Bertrand (unopposed)

Some questions will be given to the candidates in writing in advance, and some questions will be taken from the floor during the event. All community members, parents and teachers are invited to attend and participate in this Zoom forum, as schools are so important to the community.

Click the zoom link below to watch the forum!