The effects of bureaucracy are at work once again in Santa Monica — this time in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.

Schools throughout the district are in dire need of crucial employees, who in large part, provide support and critical services that are supposed to make our education system so stellar.

More than 60 nonteaching jobs remain unfilled — six months after the start of the school year. While typically we hear that janitors, security guards and teacher aides aren’t hired because of budget problems, that’s not the case in Santa Monica and Malibu. Instead, the positions haven’t been filled because the hiring process has been hijacked by a bureaucratic boondoggle.

The district’s personnel commission, comprised of three appointed volunteers and five paid staff members, is in charge of advertising the vacancies, collecting job applications and conducting tests to screen candidates before they are sent on to the district for hiring. But for unknown reasons, the commission has failed to qualify applicants in a timely manner. The commission, which is an independent entity but funded by the district to the tune of $540,000 a year, asserts it is school administrators who have dragged their feet in hiring people. Still, staff members in the commission office claim that qualified applicants have been sent to the district for 25 openings — leaving nearly three dozen positions far from being filled.

In the end, Santa Monica and Malibu — two of the most prosperous communities in the country — lack proper staffing levels because bureaucrats can’t get their acts together.

While both sides point fingers at each other and place the blame on one another, the students and staff at the schools are suffering. Take for example the dozen unfilled assistant positions in the district’s child development service department or the three permanent security guards at Santa Monica High School, which is dealing with racial tensions amongst its students. There are 14 schools that have one or more vacancies.

These positions were open in June, at the end of the last school year. It shouldn’t take so long to fill them. Officials in the district’s human resources department say it takes about three weeks to make a decision on which applicant to hire after he or she is given the stamp of approval from the personnel commission. We argue it shouldn’t take the commission more than double that time to screen candidates. Instead, it’s been eight months and counting.

The purpose of the commission’s autonomy from the district is to prevent bias and nepotism, and to ensure the hiring process is equitable. Because of the commission’s and the district’s inaction, there is inequity across the board, but it is the students who are feeling the brunt of it.

It’s been difficult to get to the bottom of who’s responsible for the ineptness because both sides have proved adept at making excuses. The district says its the commission’s fault. The commission says it’s the district’s fault. Some say the commission shouldn’t be blamed since it has suffered from instability the past two years — there have been several interim directors and staff vacancies. If staff turnover can paralyze an organization then it’s time to think about overhauling the system.

That’s exactly what the school board would like to do, but its hands are tied since it has no authority over the commission. School board members do plan to discuss how it can have more influence over the commission and work better with its members. But in order for the school board to have more control, it will require a vote by residents.

One thing is for certain: The personnel commission needs to be held accountable and district administrators must be more diligent in making sure that students are being served. We say bring it to a vote, stop placing the blame and get to work. The students deserve more.