Local officials want Malibu to ante up when it comes to funding the cash-strapped school district.
Malibu’s annual $25,000 contribution isn’t enough, they said, especially when compared with the $3 million Santa Monica pays each year.
“I’ve always been very disappointed in Malibu’s unwillingness to carry its share,” said Councilman Kevin McKeown, who also works as a computer consultant for the school district.
Roughly 3,000 of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s 12,700 students go to Malibu schools.
While the City of Malibu’s budget of $14 million is one-27th the size of Santa Monica’s $380 million budget, it’s direct contribution to the school district is one- 120th that of Santa Monica’s. “I have no idea why they do that,” Superintendent John Deasy said.
Kenneth Kearsley, Malibu’s mayor and a retired Samohi teacher of 30 years, said the city wants to give more to the beleaguered district.
“When it’s all said it done, we hope to give a minimum of $125,000 and up to $250,000,” he said, adding that a final determination will be made by July 1.
But Kearsley said it’s unfair to point the finger at Malibu.
He said the city pays heavily in taxes on its $4 billion worth of property. That revenue eventually filters back to California’s students, he said.
The bottom line, said Kearsley, is that the 27-square-mile city of Malibu contributes nearly twice as much per student as the 8-square-mile city of Santa Monica.
“The disproportionate (argument) is not true,” he said.
Kearsley said there is another reason Malibu doesn’t give more. The city, which is currently debating the construction of a large, Promenade-style outlet, simply doesn’t have the money, he said.
“We contribute our fair share,” he said. “But we don’t have the luxury that they do in our budget — because they’ve got the Third Street mall.”
Malibu has contributed $25,000 each year for the past five years, said Ken Bailey, the assistant superintendent for the school district. Santa Monica has contributed $3 million per year, with the exception of last year, when the city gave $4.5 million.
Santa Monica city officials, struggling with a $12 million budget deficit, have expressed reservations about giving more than $3 million this year.
While the two cities determine how much they can contribute, school officials are focusing their efforts on Proposition S, which goes before voters June 3.
Known as the parcel tax, the proposition would levy a flat fee of $225 on every piece of property in Santa Monica and Malibu. If passed, it will provide the school district with about $6.5 million annually for the next six years.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 28, 2003. Read the original PDF.