> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Malibu school split reaches next level - URL: https://www.smdp.com/malibu-school-split-reaches-next-level/ - Published: 2004-08-26T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T04:56:43.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import *Teachers unsure of Malibu, SM schools split proposal* *By JOHN F. MULLER Special to the Daily Press* MALIBU — As a controversial movement to separate schools from Santa Monica heats up here, district officials are pushing to speed up what could be a three-year long process. Schools superintendent John Deasy will recommend at tonight’s school board meeting that the board vote to start an investigation of how feasible it is to split Santa Monica and Malibu schools from each other. The creation of a new district for Malibu’s five schools and 2,400 students would require county and state approval. It can only be initiated by a unanimous vote of the local school board, or the collection of signatures from 25 percent of Malibu’s registered voters. While Deasy has refrained from taking a position on the possible split, he said it was his obligation to initiate the process in light of the support voiced by a group of Malibu residents, who began collecting signatures earlier this month. Currently, the district allocates roughly $20 million of its $102 million budget to Malibu schools. About 10,000 of the district’s students live in the Santa Monica portion of the school district. The newly formed Malibu Unified School Team, LLC, commissioned a study earlier this year that concluded the split was feasible. Team leaders said a separate school district in Malibu would allow the city to have more control over its schools. As it stands now, it’s nearly impossible for Malibu residents to successfully elect one of their own on the school board. Malibu has between 9,000 to 11,000 registered votes but it usually takes 13,000 votes to elect a school board candidate. “We’re looking at 20 percent of the school system having no viable means of having an influence on the school board for issues that directly impact their locations,” said Tom Sorce, the president of the team. “It’s really about having a real say in the local operation and administration of the schools where our children attend. I believe that the more local control you have on schools, the better the education the children will receive.” It remains unclear how Santa Monica would be affected by a split in the school district. If the split occurs, there would have to be elections for two new school boards, representing each of the two districts. A new Malibu district would take 20 percent of the teachers, buildings and students from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. But Santa Monica may stand to profit from the deal financially. About $6 million in funding from Santa Monica City Hall would be reserved for local schools. Currently, Malibu receives roughly 20 percent of that funding. “If it’s financially a benefit to both districts, then I think it would be great for the students,” said retired teacher Jim Jaffe. Jaffe grew up in Malibu and has remained active throughout the district. “Malibu has grown to be such a community in itself. It has become a city, so it’s probably time. But it’s all going to boil down to finances.” Some teachers around the district said it wouldn’t be that simple. While the teachers’ union has not yet taken a stance on the issue, union head Harry Keiley said he was unsure about the split. “I’m not exactly sure why there’s a movement to succeed and break up the district,” Keiley said. “At first glance, one would have to be concerned about the potential impact such a move would have not only on our teachers, but on the district as a whole... You’re looking at a district that works and works very well. If it’s not broken, why try to fix it?” Sorce said a split would allow Malibu schools to more effectively raise money from voluntary contributions and develop programs they don’t have because the district can’t afford to put them in all of the schools. “Schools should serve the community that they’re in,” he said. “If the communities they’re in have separate agendas, let’s let the schools serve those separate agendas.” Sorce said the Malibu team will meet with teachers and administrators this fall — after the financial details of the split have been worked out. He said he didn’t expect a lot of opposition from faculty members, but said he would have to brace for a possible political battle if the split receives county and state approvals, and comes back to the local level for a final vote in 2006 or 2007. “My intuitive understanding is that teachers prefer local influence and control versus policy being dictated from far away,” Sorce said. “I think that if we can improve the input of the principals and teachers and their influence on the local levels, that serves the children and the teachers better.” Anthony Fuller, a teacher at Olympic High School in Santa Monica, said he wasn’t sure a split would be better for students in Malibu or Santa Monica. He cautioned that smaller and more homogenized districts in Santa Monica and Malibu could leave students in both cities more ignorant to the ways of the world. “To me, this seems like a bunch of people who are trying to get away from a city with more real problems,” Fuller said. “But diversity has some real things it can offer, and to students especially. It might not be in the best interests of the students of Malibu (to split off) even if it seems that way to the parents.” *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 26, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082604.pdf?ref=smdp.com)