Four Running for Two Contested Seats in High-Stakes Race for Santa Barbara Unified School Board 

[Updated: Thu., Oct. 1, 2026, 1:08pm]

Two seats are up for election on the Santa Barbara Unified School District board amid a projected $10 million budget deficit, declining enrollment, questions surrounding the superintendent’s contract, and stubbornly low test scores. Districtwide, only 52 percent of students meet grade-level standards in reading and 42 percent in math.

Stakes are high, and this is the first election since the board’s monthly stipend increased from $400 to $2,000 in January. Although school board elections are nonpartisan, candidates have drawn endorsements from political parties, unions, and community leaders.

Trustee Area 1, which includes much of the Eastside and lower State Street, has two candidates: activist and business owner Jacqueline Inda Karlsen and financial analyst Mark Philibosian. Trustee Area 4, covering Old Town Goleta and surrounding areas, pits incumbent Rose Muñoz against nonprofit executive Valerie Amparan.

At a Santa Barbara Reading Coalition forum on September 24, all four candidates discussed the budget, student achievement, declining enrollment, and other hot-button topics, including housing. They didn’t disagree on much, but they did differ in approach and experience. 

One point of agreement concerned Superintendent Hilda Maldonado: None of the candidates raised a hand when asked whether they would renew her contract. Muñoz recused herself from the off-the-cuff question posed by moderator Jerry Roberts, saying that, as an incumbent, she did not feel comfortable answering.

“Shouldn’t you know by now?” one attendee shot back. 

Regardless of who wins, the next trustees will confront the same questions: how to remedy the budget, improve academic outcomes, manage declining enrollment, and determine the future of the district’s leadership. The Independent sat down with the candidates to gauge their answers.

Trustee Area 1

Jacqueline Inda Karlsen

Jacqueline Inda Karlsen (who goes by Jacqueline Inda) is making a second run for the school board after an unsuccessful bid in 2008. She said that was a “different lifetime,” and she now approaches the race with more experience, having spent years involved with several nonprofits and political organizations in Santa Barbara.

Born and raised in Santa Barbara, Inda attended Santa Barbara High and S.B. City College and now has two foster children in the district. She is director of the Restorative Justice Education Center that operates out of La Casa de la Raza and has worked on issues including immigrant rights, gun violence, youth programs, and gang diversion. She was also involved in the effort that led Santa Barbara to adopt district-based elections.

“The boundaries of this district represent more than just lines on a street; it represents the majority of students and teachers,” she said.

Her campaign focuses on representing the predominantly Latino community in Trustee Area 1 and building stronger partnerships within the broader community. A large gap still exists in proficiency rates between Latino and white students.

“For the success of our students, we need to make those connections again,” she said.

Inda wants the board to revive ad hoc committees that could bring together trustees, educators, community members and neighboring school districts to deal with specific problems. She pointed to her work following the 2014 Isla Vista killings as an example of a “community-driven” response, giving people space to grieve while championing red flag laws and safe gun storage.

She also emphasized student and teacher safety amid concerns about immigration enforcement and other federal “interference” and policy changes. She said the district must explore ways to partner with its “allies” to protect students. Additionally, she said that the district should collaborate with its “feeder schools” to help address test scores.

On the budget, Inda said the deficit ought to prompt the district to examine its facilities, declining enrollment and potential new uses for district-owned properties. She specifically highlighted the former Armory, where the district has discussed career-technical education, and said community input — such as from the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, which she co-founded — should guide its future.

Inda also pointed to deteriorating facilities and portable classrooms as issues that have not received enough attention.

“There are many different issues, but this one is right in front of us: students need space to learn and teachers need to be supported in those spaces,” she said.

Mark Philibosian

With a background in finance and a wife who is a teacher, Goleta-raised Mark Philibosian positions himself as someone who can ask the right questions about balancing budgets and improving instruction to raise student performance.  

A Goleta native and Dos Pueblos High School graduate, he holds an MBA from UCLA and a Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He previously worked at BlackRock in New York and now works in trust services. He said he can bring a “financial perspective” to issues such as upgrading the district’s HVAC systems to combat extreme heat in classrooms. 

Philibosian said he sees the district at an “inflection point,” with decisions ahead concerning the budget, labor negotiations, enrollment, and the superintendent. He added that his two young children will eventually attend district schools.

He proposes stronger financial oversight, a long-term enrollment strategy, and a goal of returning district reserves to 15 percent. He said he would also seek to reduce administrative overhead while directing resources toward students.

Philibosian emphasized measurable results in academic improvement. He said the board should track investments in curriculum and teacher training to determine whether they are improving student outcomes, particularly in literacy.

While the district as a whole has seen test scores inch up, some individual schools saw slight declines in reading and math scores between 2023 and 2026, such as McKinley, Monroe, Cleveland, and Adams elementary schools. 

Philibosian said some schools continue to struggle and argued that teachers need better training and support.

“Our teachers … are the front line,” he said. “Are they given the tools and training they need to be successful?”

Philibosian has also said the district has “dropped the ball” in its implementation of its new reading curriculum, adopted in 2023, saying the board needs a clearer plan for training teachers and evaluating results.

He said the next superintendent should be able to work with teachers, align management with enrollment, and implement a specific academic and financial plan.

When asked about concerns around immigration enforcement, Philibosian said student safety should be the district’s priority. While not addressing the subject of immigration enforcement itself, he emphasized listening to school communities about such fears, while acknowledging that some matters fall outside the board’s control.

Inda has characterized Philibosian as conservative or Republican; but he has said he does not identify with a political party.

Trustee Area 4

Valerie Amparan

Valerie Amparan, a nonprofit executive and former technology sales professional, entered the race after becoming involved in fundraising and volunteering at her children’s school, Santa Barbara Charter School. She helped parents and teachers raise $75,000 to expand programs, but she still wasn’t satisfied. 

Amparan said that experience encouraged her to examine issues on a broader scale. She conducted a “listening tour” with parents, educators, nonprofits, and elected officials before deciding to run for school board.

Her professional background includes a decade in sales at technology companies including AppFolio, Ontraport, and 8am. She later left the corporate sector to lead 4 Kids 2 Kids, a nonprofit that operates group homes that provide therapeutic support to young survivors of abuse and trafficking.

It was a complete shift from her previous life, she said, but she wanted to “multiply the impact” she had on kids —- which applies to her interest in the school board, as well. 

Amparan acknowledged that while she is a “newcomer to the political scene,” she wants to “start rolling up my sleeves and digging in to get stuff done.” 

She describes herself as “numbers-oriented” and focused on measurable outcomes. She said the district needs clearer goals, stronger guardrails against overspending, and a multiyear plan for balancing its budget.

During our interview, she brought a printed copy of the district budget, which she called her “homework.”

Amparan said spending decisions should be tied to measurable student outcomes, not just chasing reading or math achievement without any percentage or number attached. She said she would like to use data-based decision-making to improve math and reading scores. She suggested identifying successful schools and seeing if their practices can be scaled districtwide.

She said the board needs better communication with teachers, parents, and neighboring districts, particularly Goleta Union, whose elementary schools feed into S.B. Unified.

During the Reading Coalition forum, Amparan challenged Muñoz over the incumbent’s inaction on the budget. Muñoz acknowledged that she “could have done more” to address the deficit and said she initially opposed creating a Finance Committee.

Amparan has received endorsements from the Santa Barbara Teachers Association and sitting trustees Sunita Beall and Celeste Kafri. While Muñoz received the Democratic Party endorsement, Amparan said she values remaining “unencumbered” by a political party.

“I’m not afraid to ask tough questions,” she said. “One of the things I’m hearing a lot is that people don’t feel heard — they feel held at arm’s length. But that is not what we should be doing — we should be having open dialogues and being transparent about what we’re doing.”

Rose Muñoz

Rose Muñoz is seeking a third term after eight years on the board. She said she remains “committed to public education” and wants to continue work already underway, including sustainability programs, teacher workforce housing, and career-technical education facilities at the former Armory.

Muñoz’s background includes migrant education, social work, and community organizing. She previously served as a commissioner for the city’s Housing Authority and volunteered with CAUSE. She said her experiences as a Latina and Spanish speaker have informed her focus, saying that through her two daughters’ experiences in the district, she saw “the need to have schools be more inclusive, especially for Latino and Black families,” she said. 

She touched on the district’s efforts to address racial incidents and expand ethnic studies. The board has also created a committee focused on anti-Blackness, although racial incidents continue to be reported and remain a pressing concern for some families.

“We want our schools to be safe and inclusive for all students,” Muñoz said.

Muñoz also highlighted housing initiatives, including the sale of the Tatum property for housing and work toward developing the Parma school property. She cited sustainability as another area of accomplishment, pointing to solar installations and potential future efforts involving electric vehicles and waste reduction.

She acknowledged that there is “more work to do” and said she hopes to see existing initiatives completed.

Muñoz has received the Democratic Party endorsement but not endorsements from the teachers’ union or fellow trustees. She said she nevertheless considers her relationship with teachers positive.

Some community members have criticized her for being reserved during board discussions, and for not being actively involved in policy initiatives and conversations. Muñoz described herself as “very observant” and said she speaks when she believes she can contribute. She added that she would like to speak up more in future meetings.

4-1-1: The Independent is sponsoring a school board forum hosted by the League of Women Voters on Monday, October 5, 5:30 p.m. at La Cumbre Junior High School (2255 Modoc Rd.). 

Editor’s Note: Also running for Trustee Area 4 is Kevin Thomas Guay, a history teacher. Despite several attempts to reach Guay, he did not respond to the Independent’s requests for interviews.