Santa Barbara Unified School Board Appoints New Member to Fill Vacancy

After two days of interviewing a diverse array of 14 applicants, the Santa Barbara Unified Board of Trustees selected Dr. Sunita Beall to fill a vacant seat, formerly held by trustee Virginia Alvarez, on Wednesday night. 

Beall, a physician at UC Santa Barbara, is the parent of a current Santa Barbara High School student and a Dos Pueblos High School graduate. She’s also served as a Trustee on the Board of Santa Barbara Middle School since 2021 and participates in the district’s Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) Parent Advisory Committee.

She was born in India and came to the United States at the age of 3 months, she said in her introduction to the board. “My first language was not English,” she continued. “My mother did not speak English, so we spoke Telugu, my language at home,” but she learned English at the same time, she added.

She detailed moving between the East Coast and California, getting started in the public school system, and eventually following a path through medical school. “Especially as an Indian female, my father felt that if I had my education, I would always have the freedom to make my own choices,” she told the board. “So I feel very strongly about education; I always have.”

As a physician, she said, “You’re always educating people,” and helping them make informed decisions. 

Beall was sworn in after the board voted 4-0 to elect her on Wednesday evening, January 10. She will officially take her seat on the board at the January 16 meeting, replacing Alvarez, who stepped down from her At-Large Trustee Area 5 position on November 27. 

Alvarez’s sudden resignation, and Beall’s appointment to replace her, comes amid an edgy time for the district and its teachers. Salary negotiations are ongoing, and have been heated up by state waivers, school board meetings, a soft strike, and student protests.

Recently, community businesses around Santa Barbara — from the likes of Core Power to Los Agaves — have been showing support for the Santa Barbara Teachers Association, hanging signs in their windows that say, “We stand with Santa Barbara teachers.”

During her interview, Beall said she feels “very vested in” the current negotiations with the Santa Barbara Teachers Association. She added that she’s a part of a union herself at UCSB and will be negotiating for her salary next year. 

“Teachers need to have a living wage,” Beall said. “They need to be able to stay and have a future. That is a big deal, and trying to figure out what that living wage is for them is complicated.”

“You’re trying to balance being fiscally responsible and also create this living wage for teachers,” she continued, emphasizing “really looking at the budget in any and every way possible to see how money can be carved out, and having as open communication as you can have with not just teachers but the community to understand how hard it is to balance all those things.” 

She stressed finding ways to retain teachers, engage the community, and create housing. “I want their [the students’] teachers to stay,” she said.

Beall joins other boardmembers Gabe Escobedo, Bill Banning, Rose Muñoz, and Wendy Sims-Moten. Banning and Sims-Moten’s positions are up for election in November.

Beall and another candidate, Kate Parker, a former Santa Barbara Unified school boardmember who also served four years on the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees, split the boardmembers down the middle.

Chair Sims-Moten and Vice Chair Escobedo nominated Beall, while Muñoz and Banning nominated Parker. However, Banning and Muñoz eventually were swayed toward Beall.

Beall will complete the remaining at-large elected term until November 2024, when it will be up for reelection as Trustee Area 5. Although she resides in Trustee Area 2, which is currently represented by Banning, she said she would like to run and be elected on the board in November.