Malibu Elementary School Vote Tonight At SMMUSD
Written by 991KBU on May 30, 2019
Santa Monica Malibu school board members are scheduled to vote tonight on the new name for the school on Point Dume.
This … as anger and a sense of betrayal among many Malibu residents.
And a sense of bewilderment by others.
Teachers and parents have voted by a large majority to rename the school to the name Malibu Elementary School.
There are reasons for that … the teachers want a name that does not represent one neighborhood in particular … now that western Malibu’s other elementary school is being folded in.
Another major reason … test scores are going to drop at Point Dume due to the arrival of students learning English … who are clustered at the noew-closing Juan Cabrillo school.
Unless there is a new school created … the anticipated drop in test scores could end up with the Point Dume school being declared a failing school.
That does not make Point Dume graduates happy … longtime Dume families d=say they are being disrespected.
Marianne Riggins spoke at the city council meeting Tuesday.
NEWSCART 75147 RIGGINS
“This has been done I think with very limited public input.
“It’s been decided essentially by the teachers and the staff at the school, between Cabrillo and Point Dume …
“We shouldn’t be losing this history of our community.”
The new name was chosen by parents at the two schools plus teachers … and the teachers got three votes each.
School district officials said that … and we quote … “in recognition of their importance to the future of this new school and out of respect to their long tenure before and after this merger, teacher votes were weighted by a factor of three in the final tally.”
That did not sit well with city councilman Skylar Peak spoke up for Point Dume school.
NEWSCART 75141 PEAK
“If there’s consensus from council maybe we can get an item back about the naming of the school.
“I’ve heard a lot of complaints from people about that.
“I think that the school district is listening to a lot of powerful people.
“I don’t think they have a lot of community input and I think this is happening behind closed doors.”
It may be too late for the city council … with the decision scheduled to go for school board vote tonight.
At the city council meeting two nights ago … councilwoman Karen Farrer hinted that the name might not be a sure thing.
Meanwhile … construction has started at the presumed Malibu Elementary School site, formerly Point Dume Marine Science School, to add six portable classrooms for the fall.
School officials are also recommending that the name for the district’s continuation hIgh school …. Olympic High School … be changed.
The new name … The Michelle and Barack Obama Center for Inquiry and Exploration.
The school board meets at 4 at the Santa Monica headquarters … at 16th Street at Olympic Boulevard in Santa Monica.
