Santa Monica schools are overcrowded, but officials have a plan to cut back
The Santa Monica public education system has become a victim of its own success.
Most of the schools in the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District are bursting at the seams and school officials plan to cut the amount of students that are enrolled in the system.
School officials say that because the quality of education in the school district continues to improve, parents are pulling their children out of private schools and opting for public education.
The increased enrollment from local students, combined with the traditional high number of out-of-district permits granted by the school board, has led to overcrowded classrooms. The school district administration has prepared a plan, which will be presented at next week’s school board meeting, to drastically reduce enrollment.
“We need to wrestle with the financial implications of reducing the number of students in the district,” said John Deasy, superintendent of schools. “We have taken a close look at where cuts can be made and at the financial impact a reduced enrollment will have.”
Schools feeling the greatest impact from increased enrollment are Santa Monica High School, John Adams and Lincoln middle schools, and Franklin and Juan Cabrillo elementary schools.
“We just have very high quality schools. We have a great curriculum and a wide breadth of college prep courses. And to top it off we have a great staff of teachers,” said Tom Pratt, school board president. “Because the quality of our schools is so superior, parents are taking their kids out of private schools to put them back in public schools.
“That’s what caused a lot of these overcrowding problems.”
Five years ago the school district was under funded and unable to cope with the financial weight of educating its students. In order to raise money, the school board allowed many out-of-district students to enroll in Santa Monica. With the increased enrollment came extra money from the state.
Now the school district boasts some of the top test scores in the state and a wide array of classes and extra curricular activities. Lincoln Elementary, for example, was just named one of America’s top schools by Disney and will be featured in an upcoming documentary to be aired on the Lifetime Cable Television channel.
School officials said non-resident students currently enrolled in the school district will be allowed to finish out their education in Santa Monica.
“All current students will remain — we just don’t want to take on any new students,” said Desay. “That’s the fair thing to do.”
However, Deasy would not comment on specifics of the plan before next Thursday’s school board meeting, other than to say with a decreased student body, some budget cuts may be necessary.
“It’s a catch 22. The more money you have the more programs you can offer. With less money you have less resources,” said Pratt. “And making cuts is the last thing the school wants to do, but is has become absolutely necessary”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 30, 2001. Read the original PDF.