Tag archives: Hilda Maldonado

For the Love of Literacy
By Richard Mineards   |   October 11, 2022

Picturesque Godric Grove in Elings Park was the venue for the Santa Barbara Education Foundation’s second annual Love of Literacy lunch with 130 guests raising more than $30,000 for the cause. Keynote speaker, county supervisor Gregg Hart, whose mother was a teacher and father a librarian, expressed his love of literature, reading 60 books during […]

Everything That Happens Everywhere Also Happens in Santa Barbara
By Gwyn Lurie   |   March 8, 2022

When I arrived at the Montecito Journal in 2019, my partner, Tim Buckley, said to me: “This might surprise you, but everything that happens everywhere else, also happens in here.”   Tim’s apocryphal and prescient message, however, made it no less shocking for me when I learned that on Wednesday, February 16, smack in the […]

By Hilda or High Water
By Gwyn Lurie   |   January 25, 2022

Santa Barbara Schools Superintendent Super Intends to Get the Job Done Some jobs are just plain hard. Hard because no matter what choices you make, some people are bound to be disappointed. I sometimes felt that way when I served on the Montecito Union School District Board, because everyone wants what’s best for their children, […]

Santa Barbara Unified Mandates COVID Testing
By Nick Masuda   |   January 18, 2022

With COVID-19 numbers skyrocketing all over Santa Barbara County, mostly due to the Omicron variant, the Santa Barbara Unified School District installed mandatory testing for students and staff on January 10. While the county deals with an overall shortage of tests, SBUSD indicated that it had plenty on hand to test every student (roughly 13,000) […]

SBUSD Puts Sports on Pause
By Nick Masuda   |   January 11, 2022

Instruction returned to campuses throughout Santa Barbara Unified School District on January 3, with a flurry of communications helping both staff and students navigate an expected rise in COVID-19 cases throughout the area. Superintendent Hilda Maldonado delivered a message to the district on January 3 that provided clarification on health protocols, as well as some […]

Court Rules in Favor of SBUSD, Just Communities
By Nick Masuda   |   December 28, 2021

While Superintendent Hilda Maldonado knows there is plenty of work to come, a three-year-long court battle with Fair Education Santa Barbara (FESB) concluded last week, with the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) and Just Communities Central Coast (JCCC) victorious after a three-justice appellate court panel ruled in their favor. The lawsuit filed by FESB […]

Feting the Unsung Superheroes New Fund Focuses on Celebrating Educators During Unprecedented Times
By Nick Masuda   |   November 30, 2021

The past 20 months for educators have been ones of great angst and innovation — with the need for patience and a willingness to embrace the unknown paramount to serving thousands of students in the Santa Barbara Unified School District. It has also been thankless. Educators have not only had to teach students through computer […]

Santa Barbara’s New Schools Superintendent Makes Her Way From Fire to the Frying Pan(demic)
By Gwyn Lurie   |   August 31, 2021

When I arrived at the Montecito Journal, I received some push back for writing about affairs outside of Montecito. But I felt strongly then, and still do, that many aspects of life in greater Santa Barbara are integral to the lives of Montecitans. That goes for healthcare, social impact work, the development of downtown, the […]

State of Our Schools
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   March 26, 2021

Next Tuesday, March 30, Santa Barbara Unified School District Superintendent Hilda Maldonado will share the status of the district’s schools. The presentation is hosted by the Santa Barbara Education Foundation and sponsored by Atkinson, Andelson, Loya, Ruud & Romo, LogMeIn, UCLA Health, DA Davidson, KBZ Architects, Hohbach-Lewin, Oniracom, and Lazy Acres.  The virtual event features […]

Checking in with Santa Barbara County’s New Educator-in-Chief
By Nick Schou   |   August 13, 2020

On May 26, the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously to hire Hilda Maldonado as Superintendent in charge of the education of the county’s more than 14,000 elementary, junior and high school students. Maldonado’s prior job: Associate Superintendent of Leadership and Partnerships for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), the […]