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# Supporters of district split gathering signatures
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/supporters-of-district-split-gathering-signatures/
- Published: 2008-02-05T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T18:19:58.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Education, Malibu, #archive-import

MALIBU When voters today mull over their favorite presidential candidate and decide whether the public school district should continue to receive more than $10 million a year from property owners, they could also be asked to chew on another school-related question — should Malibu and Santa Monica call it quits over their 51-year educational partnership?

While that question will remain off the Super Tuesday ballot, Malibu residents that have been calling for an examination of a possible secession from the Santa Monica- Malibu Unified School District will be out at polling locations in the seaside city today, asking voters to sign a petition that will spark a process to studying the feasibility and legality of a split.

Talks of separating the district have taken place every few years since the 1980s but recent events related to the allocation of Measure BB construction bond monies, which some Malibu parents and city officials claim heavily favors Santa Monica High School over Malibu Middle/High School, have reawaken those discussions.

Laura Rosenthal, a Malibu resident who is among the parents spearheading the petition drive, estimates the group pushing the campaign has collected more than 600 signa-

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 5, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/020508.pdf?ref=smdp.com)