Board of Education

Dr. Faris Sabbah
Dr. Faris Sabbah
Superintendent
Verenise Valentin
Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent
(831) 466-5900

Meet The Board of Trustees

The Santa Cruz County Board of Education is comprised of seven trustees each of whom represents a designated trustee area within the County. Each member is elected by the voters of his or her trustee area and serves a four-year term. The terms are staggered so that three members are elected in an even-numbered election year and the other four members are elected the next even-numbered election year. The County Superintendent of Schools serves in the capacity of Secretary to the Board.

Our Charter

Established by statute, the duties and responsibilities of the County Board of Education are defined in Article 2, Section 1040-1042 of the California State Education Code. The primary responsibility of the Board is to evaluate, update, and adopt policies, in accordance with law, for programs administered by the County Office of Education. The Board guides and supports the County Office of Education in providing leadership and services to the school districts in the County. The Board also provides community leadership on educational issues and advocates on behalf of students and public education at the local, state and federal levels. It also collaborates with the elected County Superintendent of Schools so that the shared vision, mission, goals and policies of the County Office of Education can be implemented.

The County Board

  • Evaluates, updates and adopts policies consistent with law
  • Reviews and approves the County Superintendent of Schools annual itemized estimate of anticipated revenues and expenditures
  • Adopts the annual budget of the County Superintendent of Schools
  • Reviews and approves budget revisions
  • Acquires or disposes of real property as necessary for the County Office of Education
  • Fills, by appointment, any vacancy that occurs during the term of the County Superintendent of Schools or individual trustee areas
  • The County Board hears appeals of district expulsions and denials of inter-district transfers made by appellant students and parents of eleven Santa Cruz County school districts. In this capacity, the County Board performs much in the same manner as an appellate court.
  • In Santa Cruz County, the members of the Board also serve as members of the County Committee on School District Organization. This is the legal body charged with overseeing the reorganization of school districts and district boundaries through territory transfers or unifications as well as the establishment or rearrangement of governing board trustee areas as required.

Board Meetings

The Santa Cruz County Board of Education conducts its regularly scheduled meetings at 4:00 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month unless otherwise rescheduled with advance notice. The meetings are held in the Board Room at the Santa Cruz County Office of Education, 400 Encinal Street, CA 95060. Special meetings may be called as required with 24-hour advance public notice. Emergency meetings may be called without public notice. All meetings are conducted under applicable laws: the Ralph M. Brown Act, Government Code Sections 54950 et seq; Education Code Sections 35140 through 35146.

View The Board Meeting Calendar

Meetings of the County Committee on School District Organization are conducted on an as-needed schedule.

You may obtain a copy of the most current agenda 72 hours prior to a scheduled regular meeting:

View Past Board Meeting Agendas, Minutes & Packets.

How to Address the Board

Government Code provides that every agenda for regular and special meetings must provide an opportunity for members of the public to address the Board on items of interest to the public that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Board. No action shall be taken on any item not appearing on the agenda unless it is a continued matter or the board finds by a two-thirds vote that the need to take action arose and came to its attention subsequent to the posting of the meeting agenda. The Board may direct staff to place matters on future agendas. The public may address the Board during the agenda item Remarks from the Public or during the Board’s consideration of an item on the agenda. The president of the Board may regulate the length of public comments.