SMMUSD Boss Stretches Limit (Almost But Not Quite) Supporting Bond Issue

Once again … Malibu school superintendent Ben Drati is stepping up right to the limit of California law …. in campaigning for Measure M… the Malibu school bond election.

The school superintendent sent out an election eve email to parents … tiptoeing right up to pitching support for Measure M.

He says that if approved … the 195 million dollar school bond issue will “go a long way toward improving our Malibu schools with security updates and modernization needed to meet 21st-century learning standards. “
Drati carefully avoids asking for a yes vote on Measure M … that would be illegal.

There has been no organized opposition to Measure M … which under state law would require that the bond money be spent only on Malibu schools.

But some Malibu residents are not happy with the vague plans for construction from the district … which has about a third of the money it needs to rebuild Malibu High … and expand Point Dume school to make way for elementary students coming over as Cabrillo School is repurposed as a middle school..

A similar bond issue in Santa Monica has run into trouble …. with some opponents asking for more specificity on exactly what would be built with their school bond package … Measure SMS.

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The fate of an independent Malibu school district is closely linked to passage of Measure M. 

Advocates for Malibu Public Schools … AMPS … say passage of the bond issue is critical to showing state officials that Malibu will support its own district.

If the bond issue fails to get 55 percent of the vote … that will be interpreted as a lack of community support for carving out the new district.