Malibu parents call for two members to resign their posts
CITY HALL Still upset with a turn-of-events that led to a reduction in construction funding for Malibu High School, several Malibu parents are calling on the resignation of two district advisory committee members, citing potential conflict of interest in their alleged advocacy for Santa Monica High School.
The Board of Education on Thursday heard from Malibu parents concerned about the conduct of the Measure BB Advisory Committee for introducing a new set of recommendations regarding the allocation of construction bond monies shortly before a meeting last month when the board was set to approve its staff proposal.
Some of the Malibu parents that attended the Oct. 18 meeting in Santa Monica City Hall accused the committee of “hijacking” the already set plan, a proposal that would’ve sent $27.5 million to Malibu High School while Santa Monica High School would’ve gotten $38.4 million. The board ended up approving the revised Measure BB recommendation, which increased funding to Samohi to $57 million while decreasing Malibu’s share to $13.5 million.
“We have experienced a classic bait and switch,” said Malibu parent Colleen Baum, who introduced the discussion on Thursday.
Baum demanded district staff launch an investigation into the conduct of the committee, which makes recommendations to the board on allocating Measure BB funding, and asked that members Chris Harding and Judith Meister be forced to resign from their posts for conflict of interest. Staff was directed to see if there were any violations in the committee’s actions.
She’s referring to the Coalition for an Excellent Samohi Campus, which formed in response to the district staff’s original recommendation, hoping to draw more money toward Santa Monica High School. The committee’s cofounders include Meister and Laurie Lieberman, whose husband is Harding. Baum added that when Harding spoke at the meeting last month, most of his statements mirrored the concerns of the coalition.
Both Harding and Meister rejected the notion of a conflict of interest on Friday and said they have no intention of resigning.
Meister said she was appointed to the committee because of her experience in working in capital projects for 18 years and her leadership role at Santa Monica High School and John Adams Middle School as the PTSA president.
“I see my role as any one else on the committee as representing a point of view,” Meister said on Friday.
Malibu parents argued that funding is critically needed in order to create a more distinct high school and middle school, both of which currently share the a single campus.
In presenting the committee’s proposal last month, co-chairman Gleam Davis said funding to Malibu High School would remain the same while funding to the middle school would be postponed. But parents argued that a lack of funding to the middle school would affect the students at the high school.
For the Malibu parents, the blame didn’t end with the Measure BB Advisory Committee, but spread to the Board of Education for approving the plan. Some parents said Malibu residents no longer trust the school board.
A lack of trust would put the viability of a renewed parcel tax measure next year in a dire situation.
Malibu City Councilmember Andy Stern said after he spoke at the board meeting earlier this month, he received 138 phone calls from angry residents, only six of which said they were still in favor of the parcel tax.
“I have never seen anger in my city towards a group like I see in the Board of Education,” Stern said on Thursday. “One hundred thirty-two said if they ripped us off on BB, why should we trust them in going forward?”
Board members defended their decision in supporting the Measure BB proposal, some stating it wasn’t a matter of Santa Monica versus Malibu, but where funding is most critically needed.
Several of the board members said they supported the committee’s proposal — which would fund the high schools and Edison Language Academy first, leaving $38 million unallocated — because of the uncertainty with the issue of declining enrollment and whether more net classrooms were needed.
“I felt we needed to get more information as to whether or not building more classrooms was actually feasible,” said board member Barry Snell.
Board President Kathy Wisnicki disagreed with the remarks made by her colleagues, capping the discussion with a statement that insinuated that she feels like the only board member from Malibu.
“I just see a really clear lack of understanding and I think we have had community members time and time again come to the board and say the same things and I hear the same message back and that shows a lack of understanding,” Wisnicki said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 19, 2007. Read the original PDF.