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# New policy would distribute wealth
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/new-policy-would-distribute-wealth/
- Published: 2003-12-01T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T03:17:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

*School donations would be shared by all*

*By Daily Press staff*

SCHOOL DIST. HDQRTS. — A $50,000 donation by VH1 and Adelphia cable intended for two local elementary schools could end up benefiting the entire district if a new policy designed to distribute the wealth is adopted by officials.

Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy has proposed that all donations be distributed equally — instead of allowing a specific school to reap all the benefits through one contribution.

Because the communities of Santa Monica and Malibu have such dramatic economic disparities, many students are more fortunate than others because well-to-do parents donate to their kids’ schools while others don’t. The result, for example, is kids from Roosevelt Elementary, which is located in the affluent area off of Montana Avenue, receive better educational tools than kids who go to Edison Elementary, a school located on the city’s eastside that has a much lower income class.

Under the proposed “gift policy,” the $50,000 in musical instruments that will be donated today to Will Rogers Elementary and Edison Elementary would be distributed to all schools in the district.

Deasy has proposed that 15 percent of all cash gifts to individual schools or the district be deposited into an “equity fund,” administered by an external organization. In addition, 15 percent of the cash value of a non-monetary gift will be donated to the equity fund. Contributions to the equity fund will be distributed annually to district schools in the form of block grants to be used for specific goals. The amount of each grant will be determined through a weighted formula.

“The purpose of the equity-fund grants will be to improve the achievement of all students while simultaneously closing the achievement gap and mitigate the effects of unequalized enrichment of schools,” Deasy wrote to the board of education. “The mechanism proposed would provide support to all schools, but more to schools that have greater needs.”

VH1 and Adelphia will hold a press conference today at Will Rogers Elementary to donate the musical instruments. The donation is part of “Save the Music Foundation,” which is dedicated to restoring instrumental-music programs throughout the Los Angeles area by providing more than $150,000 worth of instruments. The two companies have worked together since 1998.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 1, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/120103.pdf?ref=smdp.com)