Hilda Maldonado has been treated to fierce criticism almost since her first day as Superintendent of the Santa Barbara Unified School District, back in the summer of 2020, after she was hired via Zoom during the worst pandemic in a century.
Much vituperation, both public and private, has focused on the departures of virtually every experienced executive she inherited from her predecessor, amid subjective complaints about her personality, inexperienced management technique, and allegedly abrasive personal style.
Now, however, she's being chastised by SBUSD teachers over a far more objective matter: a doltish financial blunder that effectively screwed teachers of $6 million in salaries due last year, a foolish miscalculation that has suppurated already seething emotions as the teachers union heads into negotiations with the district this month.
On this week's episode of Newsmakers TV, Josh Molina and Callie Fausey discuss their reporting about the simmering conflict - while the genial host awards Lily Dallow a victory lap for Maldonado's recent praise for flag football in Santa Barbara, the subject of Lily's upcoming multi-media special report, the production of which she's been chronicling on our show.
In other local news, the panel deconstructs the conviction of Jerry Boylan, captain of the dive boat Conception, which burned and sank, killing 34 people, in an inferno that erupted near Santa Cruz Island in the early morning of Labor Day, 2019; applauds county schools supe Susan Salcido for tossing a splendid, formal bash at the Music Academy for local teachers of the year; and recounts coverage of the latest demonstrations in SB stemming from the war raging in the Mideast, which was triggered by a savage terrorist attack on Israel.
Plus: a rave review for the "Fields of Funk" festival at Elings Park and a warm welcome for the new baby giraffe at the zoo.
All this and more, right here, right now on Newsmakers TV.
JR
You can watch this week's edition via YouTube below, or by clicking through this link. The podcast version is here. TVSB broadcasts the program on Channel 17, every weeknight at 8 p.m. and at 9 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. KCSB, 91.9 FM, airs the show at 5:30 p.m. on Monday.