The school board met Aug. 2 at the district headquarters, 2560 Skyway Drive, where members reviewed current enrollment trends.

Officials are projecting a generally flat enrollment, based on data, with a slight decrease in numbers expected by 2031. Pioneer Valley High School, for example, is projected to decline by nearly 500 students in that time.

Despite the potential decrease, the board noted that the district’s three comprehensive high schools are already at capacity, with nearly 30% of the district’s classes being taught in portable units. 

“If we have growth that we aren’t anticipating, we would have to continue to be creative with our space,” said Reese Thompson, director of facilities and operations.

Santa Maria High School currently has 24 roving teachers, meaning they don’t have a designated classroom and desk. Despite expansion efforts, including a 50-classroom building scheduled to be completed next school year, staff projected that the board would need to consider adding an additional high school in six to eight years.

“Whether or not [enrollment] grows or declines, I support a new comprehensive high school,” said board member Diana Perez. “We have a need for it now, and in the worst case we would still need it. I think we need to think ahead and be proactive.”

After hearing the enrollment and classroom data from staff, the board signaled its unanimous support to begin pre-planning for the new school and for discussions to move forward on the process.

“Every open available space, they put towards housing. We certainly could start looking now to build another school,” said board member Dominick Palera. “There’s a lot of talk in Sacramento about what to do with the money they have. We need to be ready— if we were to build a school where are we going with it?”

The district will continue to look toward the city’s expansion as it updates its General Plan, and has already identified reserve funds that could be used to purchase agricultural land to build another school. 

A vote was not required during the presentation, but staff was given direction to make expansion a priority.

As part of the consent agenda, the board unanimously approved a $200,000 contract with Orenda Education to help the district improve its student outcomes, with a focus on improving equity.

“Every student deserves the education that only some receive,” Robin Avelar La Salle, founder and CEO, told the board. “The trick is to find out what parts of the system need to be moved a bit so that the gaps between higher and lower performing students no longer exist.”

During the 2022 school year, the consulting firm will conduct surveys with faculty, shadow students during their regular schedule and perform quantitative analysis to see which systems need to be updated to better help all students. Over the course of the next year, the firm will then help the district implement changes.

“We are here temporarily to build capacity, to support you as much or as little as you need,” said Cynthia Herrera, Orenda’s director of education services, explaining that they use data to suggest which student populations need the most support.

With the spending approved, Orenda’s survey and data collection process will begin throughout the district this school year.

The board also fast-tracked a policy change allowing properly qualified individuals to use Narcan or other opioid antagonists to anyone on campus potentially suffering an overdose. With unanimous consent, the board approved the policy and waived a second reading, meaning it would be enacted immediately before the school year started.

“We have secured a supply of Narcan from Fighting Back Santa Maria. Most of the protocols are similar to the EpiPens when we brought those on campuses,” said John Davis, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction. “We want to have these ready to go for when students get here on the 11th.”

Students will return to school with the new bell schedule at 8:30 a.m. Aug. 11.