By Eric and Patricia Gruendemann Malibu
Much rhetoric and propaganda has been bandied about in recent weeks regarding the desire of MUST (Malibu Unified School Team) to have the Malibu schools “secede” from the Santa Monica Malibu School District. In particular, Rufus Baker’s letter (SMDP, Sept. 23, page 4) essentially finds the notion “frivolous” and feels those unincorporated “90265” communities outside Malibu’s official boundaries “do not identify” with the city and their children will somehow be left out of the equation.
Mr. Baker’s argument simply makes no sense. Our children attend Webster Elementary in Malibu and many of their friends and classmates live in areas like Sunset Mesa, Pepperdine and the many canyons which lay outside Malibu city limits. In recent weeks, we also canvassed many additional parents in the Sunset Mesa neighborhood — which Mr. Baker references and is geographically closest to Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica — to make sure we were not out of touch with their beliefs. While several families send their children to Pacific Palisades schools (not even part of SMMUSD, but LAUSD), those Malibu public school parents overwhelmingly feel that a broken-off Malibu school district would more effectively cater to their needs While these areas have their own political, jurisdictional and boundary issues which pre-date any school redistricting discussion, it is clear these people have not chosen to “reject” (his word, not ours) Malibu or the Malibu schools their children attend.
Our own neighborhood (Serra Retreat, central Malibu) has such a dividing line, where one side of a street is the city of Malibu and the other is unincorporated Los Angeles. The people who live in unincorporated Los Angeles send their children to Malibu schools, participate in every aspect of our Malibu community and, in fact, are some of our community’s biggest supporters of Malibu’s childrens’ programs.
Given Mr. Baker’s logic, these unincorporated neighborhoods should have been equally ignored or ostracized by the original SMMUSD as well, because they fall in neither the city of Malibu nor the city of Santa Monica. It is also interesting to note that if the SMMUSD was being formed today, Malibu, based upon existing state law, could not be part of the Santa Monica school system because it does not share a common geographic border.
The idea of succession is anything but “frivolous” to the many parents, PTA presidents and educators who are considering this topic very seriously. MUST is committed to bringing the issue of succession to the voters because it believes separate school districts will allow each city to focus its efforts on the students in the community and in its own manner expand the resources devoted to those students. As it stands now, decisions must be made to benefit the greatest number of students, yet sometimes what is best for Santa Monica children is in direct conflict with what is best for Malibu children. We feel that both new districts would be able to better serve the needs of their students and target the limited resources to where they are most needed.
If Malibu succeeds in convincing the state that a redistricting is advisable and the voters of Malibu agree, those who attend Malibu schools can continue to do so. But ultimately, this issue deserves to be put in front of the voters and let them decide.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 3, 2004. Read the original PDF.