School districts swear in new board members

By Camillia Lanham

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School districts swear in new board members

PHOTO BY CAMILLIA LANHAM

NEW MEMBERS: Santa Maria Joint Union High School District Superintendent Mark Richardson swears in newly elected board members, Dominick Palera, incumbent Carol Karamitsos, and Diana Perez. One of the first things they voted on was to move district meetings from Wednesdays at 6 p.m. to Tuesdays at 6 p.m. That starts in January and makes it so Santa Maria’s two school districts no longer have school board meetings on the same night.

On Dec. 10 the Santa Maria Joint Union High School District and the Santa Maria-Bonita School District swore in new trustees during their regularly scheduled board meetings.

Dominick Palera is a new face for the high school district. He’s a retired Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department commander who was with the department for 30 years. Carol Karamitsos was re-elected this year and has been on the school board since 2006. Diana Perez, who was appointed to fill Dean Reece’s seat after he retired earlier this year, was also elected. Their terms end in 2018.

Ricky Lara is the new face for Santa Maria-Bonita. He hopped into the seat vacated by controversial board member Will Smith, who wasn’t re-elected to another term. Lara spent the last 28 years of his life working for OSR Enterprises, which has certified organic farms east of Santa Maria. Incumbent Fidenzio “Bruno” Brunello was also re-elected.