As if our schools, post pandemic, did not have enough challenges … with another school year starting, countywide, a new specter has appeared: Cuts from the Trump administration in funding for vital programs that affect families and students.

In a meeting Thursday with the Sentinel Editorial Board, Santa Cruz County schools chief Faris Sabbah presented a stark series of reports on how federal policies are affecting schools in Santa Cruz County.

And, with ongoing drops in enrollment and a still-unacceptable rate of chronic absenteeism, local school districts are facing uncharted waters in serving an estimated 38,000 K-12 public school students in the county (2023-24 figures; another 4,400 are enrolled in private schools. California had about 5.8 million K-12 students enrolled in public sch

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