Breaking up may be hard to do for Malibu residents, who feel like a ‘second thought’ to district
MALIBU — Residents of this well-heeled, rural community are spearheading a formal push to break away from the local school district, taking with them more than $20 million in revenue.
With only 2,300 pupils in five schools, organizers said they’re often overlooked by officials at the 13,000-student Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District. They cite the 30 miles between Malibu and school district headquarters, and said that distance is a prime reason for change.
“They figure that we’ll just take care of ourselves,” said Susan Holley, a co-president of the Parent Teacher Association at a Malibu elementary school, who just weeks ago helped form an LLC dedicated solely to the split. “We’re just a second thought, and we’ve always been a second thought.”
Made up of mostly parents, the Malibu Unified School Team, LLC, has established a board of directors and meets regularly. They also have commissioned a 27-page study outlining nine state mandates for establishing their own school district. Thomas M. Griffin, a Sacramento educator and former counsel for the State Board of Education, said Malibu could establish a strong independent district, despite added administrative costs.
“It’s a very cohesive community and it seems to me that, if they formed their own district, it would generate even more community support for the schools that they have now,” said Griffin, who was paid $2,500 for the study.
“It’s an interesting phenomenon that you have the Malibu section of the district that is not connected to the Santa Monica portion of the district. I don’t know how they formed that in the first place, but there is a section of the statute now that says you cannot form a district with noncontiguous territory.”
What effect the move could have on local schools is unclear. District officials said they had not been told about the plan and declined to take an early position.
“There’s no analysis,” schools superintendent John Deasy said. “I will form an opinion when I see the facts.”
Deasy pointed to numerous issues that would have to be addressed in any breakup plan, including how the district’s assets would be divided and what effect the split would have on the district’s two unions. Deasy said his staff was researching an earlier failed attempt to split up the school district, and said he expects details soon.
“It’s more common to unify than to separate,” he added.
Griffin agreed it’s relatively uncommon for a unified school district to split up, but said it’s not unheard of. Under the current proposal, he said Malibu would take more than $20 million from the district’s $102 million budget, but both districts would be adequately funded. While per-pupil spending across the state averages about $5,000, it’s closer to $7,000 in the Santa Monica-Malibu school district, Griffin added.
“It’s clear that it’ll have some financial impact,” he said. “You have a specific program at $100 million dollars and 20 percent of the bills go away, 20 percent of the kids go away, 20 percent of the teachers go away. Santa Monica is then left with a smaller program, but very self-sustaining.”
Others were quick to point out that if the district did split, Santa Monica would-n’t have to share a $6 million annual contribution from City Hall. Still others raised further considerations.
“I think it’s great for the students in the district to have the opportunity to go to either school,” said Patricia Hoffman, a former school board member and City Council candidate. “I like the fact that we have two cities with two very different high schools that serve the needs of the district.”
Hoffman was on the school board in 1990 when there was an earlier attempt by Malibu to break away. Apparently the plan lacked enough students or a sound economic plan. Hoffman said Malibu, which became a city in 1991, in the past often has overpaid for its share of the district, adding she understands the frustrations of Malibu residents. Still, Hoffman said the bottom line is students’ needs should be put first, and unity keeps options open.
Pushed over the edge by what they considered disingenuous discussions over a proposed gift-sharing proposal that would take 15 percent of cash donations and distribute them between all district schools, Malibu residents feel disenfranchised, pushed around and laughed at, Holley said.
“These decisions are politically driven,” she said. “They’re not rationally driven. They’re not intellectually driven.”
Communications between Malibu and Santa Monica also broke down over a recent school fundraiser at the Santa Monica Pier that included rock musician Jackson Browne, Holley added. Apparently, Malibu officials who helped organize the event weren’t told until later that 50 percent of the revenues were reserved for disadvantaged Santa Monica schools. Holley said organizers probably would have agreed to give the money to the troubled schools, but said they should’ve been consulted.
The push to split Malibu from Santa Monica has been quietly in the making for months.
“We’re trying to be extremely careful (not to say), ‘Oh yeah, we can do this,’ and then, ‘Whoops!’” said Holley, who will host a cocktail party Aug. 1 to present details of the possible split to members of the Malibu school community. “We want to be able to put our money where our mouth is.”
The group feels an independent Malibu school district will increase fundraising opportunities, while giving local educators a chance to focus on gifted and remedial education — areas Holley said currently are underserved. The idea is to attract more kids now being home schooled or sent to private schools.
Organizers face the task of collecting signatures from 25 percent of residents in Malibu and the surrounding area. The group will then send their petition to the County Committee on School District Reorganization, which will make a recommendation and send it to the State Board of Education, which will make a final decision, Holley said. Though the group claims it doesn’t need approval from the local school board, Holley said it hopes to depart with the district’s blessing, adding group leaders plan to meet with Deasy early next month.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on July 22, 2004. Read the original PDF.