Quick Take
Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah says local schools are navigating sweeping federal policy changes and funding cuts by reaffirming their commitment to equity and strengthening communication and support for families. Despite challenges including declining enrollment and budget pressures, the county made progress on initiatives such as expanded college savings access and a new math education program.
This midwinter season, Lookout Santa Cruz is checking in with some of the people and topics we’ve covered over the past year.
Looking back at an unprecedented year of changes to federal education policy, including attacks on immigrant and LGBTQ communities, Santa Cruz County Superintendent of Schools Faris Sabbah says local public schools are focused on supporting their families through improved communication and upholding their values.
“Here in Santa Cruz County, we are not going to hide our values. Equity is at the heart of our work, and we’re going to continue to stand up for our community,” Sabbah told Lookout earlier this month. “If resources are taken away because we believe in diversity, equity and inclusion, then we will fight for those resources.”
Within the first months of President Donald Trump’s second term, the president ordered schools to eliminate all diversity, equity and inclusion programs or risk losing federal funding. The administration also allowed immigration enforcement agencies to make arrests at schools, churches and hospitals — reversing a 2011 policy. The federal government reduced Medicaid funding, cut funds for food banks — a lifeline for thousands of local families — and is also planning to eliminate funding for migrant education, teacher training programs and services for English learners.
“Having a federal government that has been so assertive and intentional in eliminating safety net programs and resources funding has been front and center for us — not just in education, but for everybody who cares about our community, especially our most vulnerable,” said Sabbah. “The lesson learned has been how we’ve responded to that — and it really has been collaborative, all hands on deck.”
At the same time, Sabbah said, the county’s public schools are also continuing to struggle with longstanding challenges that are exacerbated by the federal government’s policy changes: declining enrollment, mental health issues and diminishing budgets.
“The impact on safety-net systems is one of our biggest concerns moving forward,” he said.
Sabbah said school attendance rates have taken a hit because families who fear immigration enforcement are reluctant to send their kids to school and because health care programs that kids depend on have been impacted.
“We don’t see this as one action creating one impact,” he said. “This is a cumulative effect that increases anxiety, uncertainty and concern among our families.”
To address immigration concerns, Sabbah said, community organizations and schools improved how they provide timely and accurate information to prevent fear and misinformation. He said there have not been any immigration actions near schools in Santa Cruz County in the past year.
“We wanted to dispel the myth that ICE [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] has been operating on school campuses,” he said.
Staff at schools trained how to respond if immigration officials showed up on campuses and helped families create child care safety plans, which can ensure that children are cared for if a parent or guardian is detained or deported.
Sabbah said a major impact the new administration has had on education and families is the dismantling of the Department of Education, which played a significant role in protecting civil rights and in eliminating systemic barriers for historically underserved groups.
He said the public education system is the most powerful way to ensure equity, but at the moment, Trump’s policies are undermining that idea.
“What this government has done is assert that it does not have a responsibility to address historic inequities — and in some cases, [they] deny that those inequities even exist,” said Sabbah. “That undermines trust in public education, and that may be one of the most damaging impacts of all.”
Despite all the challenges of the past year, the county’s public schools celebrated several milestones and developments. The County Office of Education raised awareness of a college savings account program available to all California children born after July 1, 2022, and for students in grades 1 through 12 who qualify as low-income, are foster youth or are experiencing homelessness. The state-funded program, CalKIDS, saw the number of local families accessing these benefits double from 6% to 14% in 2024-25, providing more than $917,000 in funds.
Additionally, the county launched the Santa Cruz County Math Initiative in fall 2024, a three-year initiative to help math educators develop strategies to improve math achievement. More than 140 educators participated in the first year of the program.
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