School Scene Articles

Lompoc High School junior Karla Paniagua was leaving the restroom and making her way back to class when it happened: An administrator’s voice came over the intercom and announced that her school was going into a lockdown.   It was not a drill.   She knew she needed to get back to her classroom immediately, […]

After a summer of researching and observing animal behavior, Angelika Pasion discovered two things that humans and Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs have in common: They love to eat and sleep. “It’s similar to humans, which I thought was pretty funny,” Pasion told the Sun. Pasion, a Pioneer Valley High School alumna, is now in her third […]

Since its creation, the Mayor’s Task Force on Youth Safety has been criticized by community members as excluding the very group it’s supposed to be focused on: youth. Now the city is gearing up to launch two programs that would bring local teens to the table. Both programs, dubbed the Mayor’s Youth Advisory Board and […]

Early childhood care isn’t cheap.  In Santa Barbara County, parents spend an average of about $1,000 on infant care and $800 on preschool services each month, according to data collected by the Santa Barbara County Child Care Planning Council. That cost is near, if not totally, unaffordable for many low-income families, especially those with multiple […]

College students who were impacted by Santa Barbara County’s recent natural disasters could have their monthly federal student loan payments temporarily suspended or reduced. Some already have. Any current or former college student who borrowed a federal student loan and is currently involved in the repayment process could be eligible for a forbearance if impacted […]

While some local restaurants are preparing for a new and more stringent regulation on kids’ meals, schools are seeing rollbacks of Obama-era nutrition standards for meals served on campus.  A bill that requires California restaurants to serve water, unflavored milk, or a nondairy milk alternative with kids’ meals was signed into law in September 2018 […]

Kids who show animals will have more than just resolutions to fill out this new year.  The California Department of Food and Agriculture announced in a letter on Nov. 30 that it would soon require all kids participating in junior livestock competitions at California fairs to first complete the Youth for the Quality Care of […]

Electronic cigarette use is rising dramatically among teens. The number of U.S. high school students who reported e-cigarette use increased by 78 percent between 2017 and 2018 alone, according to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey. Numbers among middle school students rose by 48 percent. This after only 1.5 percent of high school and 0.6 […]

Santa Maria’s high school district and its Faculty Association have been debating their 2018-19 school year contracts since last fall, but unlike in years past, salaries are only playing a small role in the dispute.  Instead, much of this year’s debate surrounds proposed changes to the district’s teacher transfer and reassignment policy, and with the […]

Allan Hancock College lost out on millions of dollars on Election Day, and although officials are already working to find backup funding, renovations are going to be a challenge. Despite an extensive campaign effort and what appeared to be vast community support, Santa Barbara County residents voted against Hancock’s proposed $75 million bond on Nov. […]

Not every child who needs a family gets one.  That was the sentiment Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Arthur Garcia said he hoped community members would remember at an adoption celebration on Nov. 14, when nine former foster children were officially  adopted by six families at the Santa Maria Juvenile Courthouse. The ceremony acted […]