# Santa Ana Unified School District

The Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) is a school district in Orange County, California, United States, that serves most of the city of Santa Ana and small portions of the cities of Irvine, Tustin, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach. Although its geographic size is only 24 square miles (62 km$^2$), it is the 12th largest school district in the state of California with approximately 44,102 students. The school district employs approximately 4,500 staff, and its operating budget is $483.1 million.

## Ethnic makeup

* 93.1% Latino
* 3.0% Asian/Pacific Islander/Filipino
* 2.8% White
* 0.5% African American
* 0.1% Native American
* 0.5% Other

## Schools
### High schools

* Century High School
* Cesar E. Chavez High School
* Godinez Fundamental High School
* Lorin Griset Academy
* Middle College High School
* Saddleback High School
* Santa Ana High School
* Segerstrom High School
* Valley High School

### Alternative Schools & Programs

* Community Day High School & Intermediate School
* Independent Study Program
* Mitchell Child Development Center
* Cal SAFE

## Police Department

The Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department is the 2nd largest school police agency in California with 30 sworn officers, 41 civilian safety officers, 6 dispatchers, and 3 full-time administrative personnel. The department is the primary law enforcement agency to the school district. The Santa Ana School Police Department is an approved law enforcement agency in accordance to Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.). Santa Ana School Police officers get their peace officer status from California Penal Code, Section 830.32(b).

## Charter Dispute with OCSA

In early 2019, charter-holder Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD) threatened not to renew the Orange County School of the Arts' (OCSA) charter over a claim of an alleged misallocation of $19,000,000 in Special Education funding as well as an additional claim that OCSA's existing admissions practices were discriminatory and resulted in a student body did not represent demographics of Santa Ana's largely Hispanic neighborhoods.
Principal Dr. Ralph Opacic defended OCSA by saying,
   "We are the Orange County School of the Arts, not the Santa Ana School of the Arts. The blame for not serving more Santa Ana students is misplaced. Santa Ana Unified should be working harder to provide more arts-rich experiences for kids, so they discover and follow that pathway"
In early 2020, OCSA brought their case to the Orange County Board of Education (OCBE), and asked for the OCBE to renew their charter instead, and on March 4, 2020, The Orange County Board of Education voted to renew the school's five year charter, resulting in the forfeiture of SAUSD's governing rights over OCSA as a school in their district.
SAUSD was to remain governing over OCSA until June 30, 2020, and on July 1, the Orange County Board of Education gained control over the school.
As of the 2020-2021 school year, OCSA has instituted new admissions requirements involving "auditions" being replaced with "placement activities" to determine if potential students are a fit for the conservatories they have applied to. If there are too many applications accepted, an admissions lottery will be instituted.

## Alleged Brown Act Violation

On September 11, 2023, The Louis D. Brandeis Center For Human Rights Under the Law, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish League, Potomac Law Group, and Stand With Us filed a lawsuit, on behalf of students, against SAUSD that “alleged violations of California’s open meetings law, including failing to provide proper public notice before approving multiple ethnic studies courses containing anti-Jewish bias and for refusing to protect the public, including members of the Jewish community, from intimidation and harassment at Board meetings.” Plaintiffs allege SAUSD violated the Brown Act, which prohibits secret legislation by public bodies and requires open meetings. The lawsuit asks the court to block the controversial curriculum.

## Godinez High School sexual misconduct controversy

In July 2024, Aaron Raya, a track and football coach and substitute teacher at SAUSD's Godinez Fundamental High School, was arrested after it was revealed he sent "inappropriate texts" which encouraged an underage female student to meet him for sex. Raya was charged with contacting minors with the intent to commit a sex crime, with police identifying two additional underage victims and other former Godinez students who accused Raya of making "sexual advances" towards them. The Santa Ana Unified School District released a statement to USA TODAY on July 16, 2024 claiming that "Santa Ana Unified School District is cooperating with the Santa Ana Police Department following the arrest of a suspect who served as a coach and substitute teacher at Godinez Fundamental High School. We understand that this news may be concerning to our community. We take all allegations of misconduct very seriously, and the safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority."