970-323-4331
Santa Barbara Unified School District HMP Project Pages
PROJECT CONTACTS
Dynamic Planning + Science
ETHAN MOBLEY 970-323-4331
BRIAN GREER 510-253-0054
Dynamic Planning + Science
Desmond Ho
Dynamic Planning + Science
ETHAN MOBLEY 970-323-4331
BRIAN GREER 510-253-0054
Dynamic Planning + Science
Desmond Ho
Santa Barbara unified school district Hazard Mitigation Plan Update 2025
The Santa Barbara Unified School District is in the process of updating its Hazard Mitigation Plan to reduce losses resulting from natural disasters. This plan strives to identify and reduce vulnerability of the District's residents, visitors, and infrastructure to future hazard events.
The Santa Barbara Unified School District is in the process of drafting a Hazard Mitigation Plan Update to reduce losses resulting from natural disasters. Hazard mitigation is the use of sustained, long-term actions to reduce the loss of life, personal injury, and property damage that can result from a disaster.
Planning efforts include capital projects and other pragmatic activities that can mitigate the impacts of hazards. The 2025 HMP Update covers each of the major natural hazards that pose risks to District infrastructure, staff, and students.
Recognizing that successful mitigation planning efforts must be communicated and understood by the public, the District approach includes stakeholder participation and input with the use of GIS technology to map and update hazard information for each hazard profiled in the 2025 HMP.
The process incorporates input from the public, Federal and State land management agencies, including the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the US Forest Service, and from neighboring and regional agencies. The Hazard Mitigation Plan may also be used to document and coordinate mitigation efforts among Federal, State, and local jurisdictions.
Identifying actions for risk reduction through collaboration with stakeholders and the public
Increasing education and awareness of threats and hazards, as well as their risks
Focusing resources on the greatest risks and vulnerabilities
Communicating priorities to State and Federal officials
Aligning risk reduction with other community objectives
Building partnerships by involving citizens, organizations, and businesses
This Hazard Mitigation Plan (HMP) will be designed to reduce the impacts of future natural and manmade disasters on K–12 schools and administrative facilities within the district. While it is not possible to completely eliminate disaster risk to SBUSD schools, substantially reducing the negative impacts of future hazards is possible through the ongoing implementation of risk reduction measures, such as the forthcoming update to the HMP. To qualify for FEMA hazard mitigation grants, school districts must maintain a FEMA-approved Local Hazard Mitigation Plan, ensuring continued eligibility for federal funding to support mitigation efforts. A Benefit-Cost Analysis of BCA of mitigation actions for priority projects will be developed. This type of analysis is required for almost all FEMA hazard mitigation grants and is also a powerful tool for evaluating and prioritizing mitigation projects regardless of the funding source.
The Robert T. Stafford Act constitutes the statutory authority for most Federal disaster response activities especially as they pertain to FEMA and FEMA programs and created the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). The HMGP assists states and local communities in implementing long term hazard mitigation measures following a major disaster declaration. On October 30, 2000, the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act was amended by Public Law 106-390 and is referred to as the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 (DMA 2000). As a DMA 2000 requirement, the HMP must be updated every five (5) years to remain in compliance with regulations and Federal mitigation grant conditions. Federal regulations require hazard mitigation plans to include a plan for monitoring, evaluating, and updating the hazard mitigation plan. A current and approved hazard mitigation plan is a prerequisite for jurisdictions wishing to pursue funding under the Robert T. Stafford Act. More at Grant Framework – Mitigate Hazards
This hazard mitigation planning effort is solely funded by a state administered federal grant program for which the Santa Barbara Unified School District was successful in receiving. The district has contracted with Dynamic Planning + Science to update the current Local Hazard Mitigation Plan. The consultant will provide process facilitation, stakeholder outreach, data collection and analysis, plan writing, and strategy development.
