Efforts To Get The M Out Of SMMUSD Continue Despite 10% Student Drop

Efforts to split Malibu out of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District continue.

A political effort that began about 10 years ago is seeking to break out Malibu … which through an accident of history and geography is connected to the Santa Monica district even though separated by a chunk of Los Angeles …

Santa Monica school officials have been reluctant to allow Malibu to go.

Property tax revenue from Malibu subsidizes schools in Santa Monica …. and while the Santa Monica board members are publicly in favor of splitting the district … they say it has to be on terms that do not hurt kids in Santa Monica schools.

One major problem has been the diminishing student population in Malibu … which has now dropped another 10 percent after the Woolsey Fire.

14 hundred 40 kids now attend public school in Malibu.

Malibu’s only board member … Craig Foster … says that’s below the 15 hundred minimum population favored by the county agency … called LAACO … that will rule on a separate school district.

Is that a problem???

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“No, it’s not helpful ,but the way it works is that the LAACO committee has broad discretion and they’ll be looking at broader factors.

“And to me the broadest factor here is that the decrease in population is here is likely due to the actions of the existing school district so it’s really logical that the drop in population is a good reason to give us our own school district so that we can put in place policies to undo the damage that’s been done and then move forward in a positive way.”

City officials continue to negotiate with Santa Monica on terms for a separate school district.

And they have said in the past that a special state legislative bill may be necessary to address the unique circumstances … in getting Malibu out of the Santa Monica school district.