There is one story about the disaster response that I’d like to share with you. The combination of the Thomas Fire and the recent flood rocked our community. Through it all, I have witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of support for staff, students, and our community.

I have witnessed SBCC step up to provide assistance wherever we could. We opened our main campus to serve as a Red Cross evacuation center and offered shelter to hundreds of firefighters from outside the area in our Campus Center.

In addition, SBCC happily agreed to help our colleagues at Montecito Union School (MUS). Although their school was not significantly damaged, they were within the mandatory evacuation zone and in need of an emergency, temporary school site. When asked if they could come to SBCC, our response was a proud, “yes!”

We were very pleased to have MUS on our campus from Thursday January 18 – Friday, January 26. We were prepared to allow them on our campus as long as they needed, but also glad they were able to return to their home school.

These are just a few examples of how our entire community has come together to provide support to our neighbors, friends and colleagues. The recent disasters have made me feel very proud to be part of this community and part of the SBCC community. We look forward to sharing with you all of the exciting things we are working on this semester.

Dr. Anthony E. Beebe, Superintendent/President