In 2017, the City of Malibu filed a petition with the County to separate the public schools located within its city boundaries from those in Santa Monica. After years of negotiations with Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board Members and leaders, it appeared that a compromise would soon be reached; however Malibu walked away from negotiations a couple of weeks ago and is again petitioning the County to approve separation.
The second of those public hearings will be held tonight. The first was held last Friday night, immediately before a three day weekend and less than a month after Malibu left the negotiating table. The second, and last, hearing will be held tonight.
Anyone interested in providing public comment on the matter should follow these instructions (PDF) put together by Santa Monica Forward. The instructions include a zoom link for tonight’s meeting and instructions on how to email.
Malibu gave three main reasons for wanting its own district:
- Local control: Because Malibu has fewer residents than Santa Monica, it feels that its concerns are often overlooked when the Board of Education is making decisions.
- Community values: Malibu wants a school district that “reflects the values of its community.“
- Fairness and equity: Malibu wants a school district that is based on principles of fairness and equity.
Malibu is also angry that it feels that more money that is collected from taxes is spent disproportionately in Santa Monica. For its part, the District has many concerns, but one of the largest ones is how the separation, and the loss in funding, would impact students in the lower-income communities of Santa Monica.
In 2018, the District and Malibu began negotiations.
In 2021, the county’s education department wrote a 60 page report on Malibu’s petition and found it more than lacking. The report listed nine standards created by the California Department of Education that should be met to insure that a split was in the best interest of all stakeholders (students in both districts, teachers, support staff, etc…) and found that Malibu’s plan failed to meet the standards in eight of them. SMMUSD has the full report on their website here.
After the report, negotiations between SMMUSD and the city appeared to be going forward in good stead. The two government bodies agreed on revenue sharing, how the transfer of power would occur and a “Joint Powers Agreement.” The revenue sharing agreement would maintain current funding for Santa Monica schools and guarantee a 4% budget increase for nearly two decades if approved.
The process wasn’t smooth, in the last couple of months Malibu attempted to walk away from the table but was drawn back.
At its October 15 board meeting, SMMUSD was expected to vote on approving a plan for division, but the motion was tabled. The District had created a timeline to approve the plan that included the October 15 as a goal to complete negotiations and get approval.
SMMUSD was still getting input from stakeholders including parents and the unions representing teachers and staff. SMMUSD Board Chair Jon Kean said at the time that the delay was about getting the deal right and not a stalling tactic.
“SMMUSD will not place artificial obstacles or random dates as deterrents in finalizing these agreements in a rigorous manner…What some might see as a short delay, others will see as due diligence, proper governance, and a thorough attention to details. We are at the doorstep of completing this arduous process, which was once thought to be impossible. The District will continue to place the needs of all students as our timeline,” wrote Kean in a statement.
Less than two weeks later, the Malibu City Council voted unanimously to submit its own feasibility report, a response to the 2021 county report, and resubmit its request for a separate district.
The announcement was met with scorn from advocacy groups in Santa Monica, unions and other advocates for public education and the school district itself. Malibu’s petition is opposed by SMMUSD, the City of Santa Monica, the Santa Monica-Malibu California Teachers Association (SMMCTA) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), Community for Excellent Public Schools (CEPS), the NAACP, the Santa Monica Democratic Club, Santa Monica Forward and others.
