“Good evening” turned into “good morning” during public comment at the Santa Barbara Unified school board meeting on Tuesday. Teachers and students stuck around until 3 a.m. on Wednesday to protest the district’s proposed layoffs.
Tears were shed, poetry was read, and pizza was delivered. By the end of the night, students were sitting on the floor with blankets around their shoulders. It was a borderline sleepover for the many people who stayed, despite having school in the morning.
At 2:30 a.m. — eight hours after the meeting began — the board finally voted to send preliminary layoff notices to 85 teachers, including multiple arts and music positions.
Public comment lasted for three hours, as nearly 80 people signed up to speak and plead with the board to keep arts and music off the chopping block…