Report: Separate Malibu school district feasible

Ashley Archibald

JANUARY 18, 2013 7:32 PM

 

MALIBU — A study commissioned by parents shows that a Malibu-only school district could meet most of the legal requirements for leaving the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, but many questions remain regarding how the process can move forward.

According to the study, a Malibu Unified School District would have the population and funds necessary to split off, but it would need to prove that it could meet the needs of special and alternative education students and that the majority of Malibu residents were in favor of leaving.

Other issues that would need to be addressed include splitting property between the two new districts and securing special legislation to preserve the Measure R parcel tax, which the report refers to as “crucial to deem the reorganization viable.” Measure R was approved by 73 percent of the voters in 2008 and generated roughly $10.6 million in 2011-12.

Craig Foster, president of Advocates for Malibu Public Schools, which commissioned the study, said that although many questions had yet to be answered, the report showed that the district was capable of meeting the nine criteria prescribed under the Education Code.
“There are no difficult solutions here. We’re committed to making it work,” Foster said.

Members of the Malibu community have been pushing to break away from the existing district for many years, citing a sense that the two communities are too different and geographically separate to work as a single entity.

They have long been upset with the lack of Malibu representation on the board. The last representative from Malibu, Kathy Wisnicki, left the board in 2008.

A slate of three Malibu candidates, including Foster, failed to beat out the three Santa Monica incumbents in the most recent election.

The report was paid for by Malibu parents and created with the cooperation of SMMUSD officials, who promised to work with them to explore the possible split in 2012.

It addresses nine criteria laid out by the Education Code that the Los Angeles County Office of Education will have to consider if a petition to break up the district garners enough signatures from Malibu voters.

That body will make a recommendation which then gets forwarded to the state Department of Education, which can either act on the matter or shelve it perpetually.

To read more, go here.

Happy New Year!

Hi Everybody!

Lots to report in 2013! We’ve gotten the independent study of the feasibility of separating from SMMUSD finalized. We’ve had our second meeting with the SMMUSD Unification Committee. We’re restructuring AMPS & AMPS Foundation, including and new website and considerably improved information access and outreach.

Information on all this is coming very soon. In the mean time, we had discussed having a general meeting on Jan 23rd. We have decided to postpone that meeting for a few weeks.

Very best wishes, thanks for your support, and happy new year!!!

Craig

Malibu Pushes for Equal Voice in Allocation of Measure ES Funding

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board members maintain that Malibu’s voice has been represented on bond measure projects at Malibu schools.

By Jessica E. Davis

Malibu activists and leaders pressed the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board of education for a formal agreement to ensure an equal voice on the spending of 20 percent of a $385 million bond measure that will go before voters in November.

SMMUSD board members did not take action following a two-hour discussion Thursday around the possibility of forming a Malibu Measure ES Input Committee, pushing the discussion to November to allow for more time to gather input and resolve differences with the Malibu community.

Measure ES is aimed at providing a portion of $1 billion needed for improvements and technology upgrades at Malibu and Santa Monica schools.

For the past few months, Malibu leaders and activists have urged the district to create a joint powers authority—a legal agreement between two or more jurisdictions working together. In this case, the body would include Malibu representatives and members of the Board of Education.

Malibu-only Committee Could Make Critical Bond Funding Decisions

During Thursday’s meeting at Malibu City Hall, several people, including Councilwoman Laura Zahn Rosenthal, pressed the need for a joint powers authority, or something close to it, to ensure Malibu has an equal role in deciding how the funds are spent.

“What we need is a legal entity so Malibu gets to make the decisions that are binding for how their money is spent,” Rosenthal said.

She pointed to an existing agreement between the city of Malibu and Santa Monica Community College. The Malibu Public Facilities Authority, created through a joint powers agreement, includes two city councilmembers and two members of the college’s Board of Trustees. The entity makes decisions about the construction of the college’s planned satellite campus in the Malibu Civic Center area.

Craig Foster, who is a Malibu candidate for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District and president of Advocates for Malibu Public Schools, said he believes having a formal agreement would help build consensus within the community around projects.

“I think it would make a dramatic difference in how smoothly it moves in our community,” Foster said.

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.