YOUNG BLOOD

Seeking reelection in the upcoming Santa Barbara School
Board race, boardmember Robert Noel
announced his plans for three initiatives specific to high schools.
The first — which he unveiled along with Police Chief Cam Sanchez
this Tuesday — is a public safety and emergency preparedness
program which aims to replace the Junior ROTC program cut by the
district last year. The second is an Advanced Placement prep
program that looks to help typical “B” students get a leg up on
advanced placement. Noel’s last proposed initiative is a
Construction Technology Institute, which would see students build a
residential structure from the ground up during a four-year
period.

Stalled in their contract negotiations with the school district,
more than 200 members of the Santa Barbara Teachers
Association marched into the school board meeting this
week in a formidable show of unity. Sporting pins with the slogan
“Make Teachers a Priority,” several of the teachers addressed the
board, demanding the renewal of stalled talks and calling for a
halt to the recent trend of salary cuts. As the teachers marched in
the standing room only crowd, the five members of the Board of
Education all applauded.

A record number of students — five — were in the graduating
class of Los Robles High at Los Prietos Boys Camp
this week. Never before have so many students graduated at one time
in the 60-year history of Los Prietos, which is a live-in camp for
juvenile offenders run by the county’s Probation Department. The
camp’s maximum population is 75 teenagers, who stay for either 120
days or 180 days, attending the four-classroom Los Robles School
operated by the Santa Barbara County Office of Education. It has
been “rare for a minor to graduate from high school while in the
program,” according to Chief Probation Officer Scott DeuPree.
“These five boys were close to graduating when they got here,” said
Los Prietos probation officer Mike Cleary, “and were able to lock
in on what they had to do.”

Free tutoring just came to Santa Barbara
youngsters via the Santa Barbara Public Library System. Students
from fourth through 12th grade or at a college-introductory level
can visit any library branch or visit sbplibrary.org to get help with
homework in math, science, social studies, and English. The program
also features Spanish-language tutoring in math and science.