AMPS Outlines Mission to Create Separate Malibu Unified School District by Kristina Kell

Group Plans to Meet Every Third Wednesday of the Month at City Hall to Report on Progress

 

The group AMPS, Advocates for Malibu Public Schools, met with members of the public at its regularly scheduled meeting (the third Wednesday of every month, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Malibu City Hall), to discuss its plans regarding separating the Malibu area from the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District.

AMPS board members outlined their mission for the upcoming months, which include detailed plans to compile and distribute information addressing the concerns and benefits of any separation— information that the community would need in evaluating an upcoming decision to create a Malibu Unified School District.

Currently the AMPS board of directors includes Craig Foster, president; Seth Jacobson, vice president; Melanie Goudzwaard, treasurer; and board members Patricia Manney, Karen Farrer, Laureen Sills; as well as two city council liaison, Laura Rosenthal and Lou LaMonte.

AMPS board members discussed their plans to print, distribute and make available to the Malibu community, informational material including financial information, information on the district formation process, effects of a separation on the Malibu community and how Malibu could envision the new district to function successfully and efficiently.

Dialogue during the meeting included talks to cultivate a comprehensive AMPS membership, increasing inclusive community representation and commencing with an official and organized fundraising campaign.

AMPS board members assert they are dedicated to transparency in this process and discussed providing public access to all information concerning the AMPS mission, financial statements and fund expenditures—wanting to set a precedent for a financially transparent MUSD at this early stage.

Plans to poll the Malibu public, including the unincorporated areas of Malibu, which would be included in an MUSD, are underway and AMPS members state they are eager to hear more from the community.

AMPS representatives and representatives from SMMUSD have scheduled sit-down talks to begin mid-June, to discuss among other things, the hiring of a seasoned independent and objective evaluator/ consultant to work with both parties on the separation of the districts, including all aspects of the negotiations and financial details concerning the separation.

Preliminary financial reports supplied by the SMMUSD have indicated that separating the districts is financially viable. According to the SMMUSD financial report, separation would mean Santa Monica schools could reap an additional $600,000 toward its budget deficit, while Malibu, if current parcel taxes remain in place, would have an approximate $650,000 school-budget surplus.

Members of the Malibu community have expressed interest in ascertaining how the overall quality of education and special education would be tackled in an independent Malibu school district, AMPS expects to address these and other issues in the upcoming months, including the MUSD school board election process, the bond measure, existing parcel taxes, the location of an administrative office, environmental and financial impacts, if any, on the citizens of Malibu.

Many complicated questions regarding the separation have yet to be publically addressed, and AMPS members have positioned themselves as a community representative body and Malibu’s go-to information source for separation negotiations.

However, AMPS claims that the entirety of current financial data relied upon in any separation negotiations will be watertight data supplied by proficient experts hired by both the communities of Malibu and Santa Monica.

AMPS further asserted, that it will proceed with a movement to separate districts only as long as it is financially practical for both communities and the quality of education and special education is maintained or exceeds current standards.

Unification

 

Editor:

I very much enjoyed your “Unification: Vox Populi” editorial. You raise a number of excellent questions. Perhaps I can help reduce some uncertainty.

Based on both SMMUSD and our own calculations, an independent Malibu school district (MUSD) would be better funded and less subject to state budget cuts than is currently the case. This, and our much closer connection to our community, imply a higher overall quality of education. This might include things like K-12 language programs, an international baccalaureate program, robust distance learning programs, and broader curricula than what we have today.

As a basic aid district, we would be neither directly subject to state budget cuts nor reductions in the student population. Actually, our risk is the inverse. When we improve the programs and services offered by Malibu schools, we expect enrollment to increase. As a basic aid district, we do not receive funds on a per student basis so this would lower the average dollars per student. Of course, this would be a good problem to have and we’ll have a variety of tools to address it as and when it occurs.

As for the cost, AMPS has been very clear in saying that separation would not require any incremental costs to Malibu residents. The existing parcel taxes and bonded indebtedness of SMMUSD will remain in place if there is no separation. If we do separate, we would need to keep those measures in place, but nothing more. Thus, there is little likelihood of relief from these costs in any scenario but nor is any increase to these costs expected or intended.

Many of the questions you raise are difficult to answer so far in advance, but suffice to say we envision a district with a strong superintendent and other professional leaders overseen by committed, caring board members. Having spent far too much time at SMMUSD board meetings, it is certainly my personal commitment to create a governance situation for our schools that focuses on the needs of the children and leaves city politics at the door.

As to your question regarding special needs students, it is both our legal and moral obligation to provide appropriate services in this regard. Like anything we will do, I fully expect that MUSD will incorporate current best practices in this regard and be more than satisfactory to the recipients. In a student centered district, making sure each child’s needs are met is foundational.

Finally, as regards polling, you are absolutely right, public opinion is key to this process. Before a new district can be created, the voters must assent. Likewise, polling and petitions of support are required to even begin the process with the county. Finally, creating a new district is far too much work if it is not clearly seen to be of public value. However, at this time we have only begun a true exploration of the details of this new district. It makes more sense to us to define the shape of the district to come, hold many public meetings to discuss that shape, and to incorporate the best ideas and most heartfelt needs of the residents of Malibu, and then poll to understand if separation as envisioned has the merit and attractiveness we believe it to have. We will be reaching out to Malibu residents regularly in many different venues as this process moves forward. I invite you and every interested person to attend and air their hopes and concerns. This will be our district and it must be one that suits our city, or it is not worth the doing.

Thank you again for your caring concern and I look forward to continuing this dialogue as the process moves forward.

Craig Foster President—Advocates for Malibu Public Schools

Meeting Expected Soon on Independent Malibu School District by Jessica E. Davis

 

 

Mayor Laura Zahn Rosenthal said she believes the meeting between the city, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, union officials, and others could take place in June.

A long-awaited meeting between the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, the city of Malibu and others over the possibility of an independent Malibu school district could happen in June, Malibu’s mayor said this week.

“I’ve already been approached by the superintendent and we are setting up a meeting within the next few weeks to start this process to see if all the interested parties can get together and reach an agreement,” Mayor Laura Zahn Rosenthal said during the council’s regular meeting on Monday.

During its May 3 meeting, the SMMUSD school board agreed to meet with representatives from the cities of Malibu and Santa Monica, the school district, the unions, parent groups and Los Angeles county.

To read more, go here.

AMPS General Meeting – Wednesday, May 16, 10:30 am, Malibu City Hall, Zuma Room

There will be an AMPS meeting Wednesday, May 16th, in the Zuma Room of Malibu City Hall. The meeting will take place between 10:30 am and 12:30 pm. On the agenda will be discussions of events and initiatives related to Malibu educational autonomy.

Please join us!

 

Also, if you haven’t already, please “follow” this blog and/or “like” Malibu Schools United and Advocates for Malibu Public Schools on Facebook! Please click the appropriate buttons at the top of the right hand column on this page.

U.S. News & World Report: Malibu High School is ranked 52nd within California

 

 

 

MHS also ranked #265 in the nation in the same survey.

For more information, go here.

Candidates in 50th take positions on education issues by Ashley Archibald

 

 

 

….Torgan’s stand against taxation included a potential future measure that would preserve an existing parcel tax in Malibu should the schools in Malibu and unincorporated parts of Los Angeles succeed in a current effort to split from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

According to a presentation by SMMUSD Chief Financial Officer Jan Maez, the proposed Malibu district would start with an estimated $2.35 million structural deficit, something the parcel tax would eliminate.

However, the tax would expire when the new district formed unless a legislator passed a very limited law allowing it to stand.

Both Bloom and Osborn expressed doubts that a second district would be beneficial to students because of the increased overhead costs, and said they would have to be convinced otherwise to take on the bill.

Only Butler gave an unreserved “yes,” provided that the two proposed districts felt that it would be the best for both of them.

“I would be honored to carry their legislation,” Butler said.

To read more, go here.

School board calls for further study of Malibu break-up by Ashley Archibald

Study shows new districts could survive

May 05, 2012
MALIBU CITY HALL —The Board of Education will hire consultants to analyze the impact of splitting the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District between its two incorporated cities after preliminary research by staff showed that the two new districts might survive the breakup.

The studies will be done by an independent party and will look at both the finances of the two proposed school districts and polls of the Malibu community to make sure that support for the effort goes beyond a vocal minority.

Advocates for Malibu Public Schools (AMPS), a parent group that’s squarely behind the separation effort, has agreed to pay for the studies.

Given the depth of emotion that has come out around the issue, it would pay to see if the idea is feasible and if there’s broad support amongst the Malibu community, which would have to find at least a two-thirds majority to make some of the provisions work, board members said.

“I think we should move forward,” said Boardmember Nimish Patel. “We owe it to you, we owe it to the community and I want it to happen.”

The decision delighted Malibu residents who packed their City Hall to show support for the separation, which some believe would solve a chronic problem of under-representation at a district packed with elected officials from Santa Monica.

To read more, go here.

Malibu’s Split from Santa Monica Would be Costly, School District Report Finds by Jason Islas

Another article that mostly missed the key facts from the meeting. In fairness, it is highly complex.

 

May 4, 2012 — Splitting the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District could be costly, especially for Malibu, where a secession movement has been gaining momentum, according to a preliminary report issued by District officials.

The report, prepared by the district’s Chief Financial Officer, Jan Maez, found that if Malibu were to split from the district, its newly formed school system would face an operating deficit to $2.4 million. Santa Monica’s budget deficit would stay at around $4 million.

“The district usually runs an operating deficit of $4.6 million,” Maez said of the existing district, which serves both upscale beach cities. The $2.4 million increase on Malibu’s side would come primarily from the overhead costs, she said.

But the deficit question isn’t the only one facing proponents of the district split, District officials said.

The district has a number of general bond obligations, and one of the key issues officials would need to tackle is figuring out how that debt gets distributed, Maez said.

The School Board on Thursday decided to move ahead with the preliminary process by preparing a report that could cost as much as $40,000 detailing the impacts of dividing the district.

“Advocates from Malibu schools and the Malibu City Council have offered to pay for the study,” said Board President Ben Allen. “This is an incredibly complex government entity,” Allen said of SMMUSD, and there is a lot to understand.

“For this to work, we need all the key stakeholders to come to the table and agree,” Allen added.

To read more, go here.

Severing School District Would Cut Budget Shortfall by Jessica E. Davis

Jessica’s story (below) missed several key threads of last night’s narrative.

Jessica said:

“On its own, the proposed Malibu Unified School District would have to shoulder a $2.35 million budget shortfall. That number does not include potential revenue from an existing parcel tax. With the parcel tax, that cost could go down, according to Maez.”

This would have more accurately reflected the meeting’s conclusions:

On its own and without the potential revenue from the currently existing parcel tax, the proposed Malibu Unified School District would have to shoulder a $2.35 million budget shortfall. Maez also stated that options exist to keep Malibu’s existing parcel tax in place. In that scenario, her numbers for an independent Malibu district would swing to a $600,000 budget surplus.

Likewise, Jessica didn’t mentioned that Jan’s number reflecting an approximately $600,000 gain for an independent Santa Monica district did not include any cuts to current staffing levels even though Santa Monica would lose 17% of its students. To the extent that Santa Monica reduced its central administration and related expenses, further reductions in Santa Monica’s structural deficit could be realized. Certainly, Santa Monica stands to gain from retaining all of the approximately $2mm of joint-use funds paid by Santa Monica to SMMUSD and shared pro rata throughout the district.

It was based on these nuances that the board agreed unanimously to precede with further investigation. Without understanding those facts, the board’s decision to investigate further makes little sense.

 

 

Based on initial estimates, Santa Monica would see its deficit slashed by a half of a million dollars, but a proposed Malibu Unified would face a $2.35 million budget gap by Jessica E. Davis May 3, 2012

Santa Monica would save more than $500,000 if Santa Monica-Malibu Unified were separated into two districts, according to estimates released Thursday at a school district Board of Education meeting.

If separated from the current district, the projected deficit for the Santa Monica Unified School District would be about $4.1 million. The school district currently has a $4.6 million deficit, according to Chief Financial Officer Jan Maez.

She gave a detailed 90-minute presentation at the meeting at Malibu City Hall that was attended by more than 100 people, nearly all in support of unification, the term used by education officials for the process to separate school districts.

The $4.1 million projection is based on current staffing levels, Maez said, adding that the estimate could go up or down depending on a number of factors. She noted a number of times that the analysis was preliminary, and more study is needed.

To read more, go here.

A New Beginning

After a lengthy report by SMMUSD CFO Jan Maez suggesting the potential viability of separate Santa Monica and Malibu school districts, the school board unanimously agreed to move forward together with AMPS and others to formally explore the feasibility of separation. The presentation, subsequent public comments, and board discussion took place in front of a packed house of separation supporters in Malibu’s City Council Chambers.

Many thanks to everyone who attended tonight’s board meeting and/or otherwise supported this investigation!!! After many years and much disappointment, the path seems to be open for a thorough investigation of separation and reasonable expectations of the creation of a path to independence!

Thanks everybody! More to follow soon.