Board Approves Huge Bond Issue, Backers Say It Is Supported By Malibu Voters

The school board down there last night approved putting a 395 million dollar construction bond issue before Malibu voters this fall. 

If approved … this property tax raised in Malibu would have to be spent in Malibu … whether or not Malibuy becomes a separate school district.

District Superintendent Antonio Sheldon last night said the measure will include preparation.. but not construction … of a separate Malibu school headquarters.

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“The district has assessed the facility needs and determined the priority of the needs, and this includes the following:

• • • Repair and replacement the critical systems such as roof, electrical, plumbing.

    • School  and safety and security upgrades, 

    • technology and science modernization 

    • Upgrade modernize and replace aging school grounds 

    • Improvements to school grounds and physical education facilities, 

    • elementary school assessment, and 

    • planning and preparation for an eventual Malibu Unified School District.”

The bond money would be spent at all four Malibu public schools, including elementary campuses.  But the main part of the proposed bond would be for the reconstruction of Malibu high and Malibu middle school campuses.

The original preference of Malibu residents – more than a decade ago – was to stretch out the rebuild of the campuses over four phases, over the next 10 years or so.  The first phase is underway right now, with the construction of the new main school classroom, now under construction. 

School officials say meetings with Malibu school community members and the community in general have shown strong voter support to speed up the process dramatically.

Again, the superintendent Antonio Shelton:

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“The bond measure will focus on completing the Malibu High and Middle School campus plan.  Potential project include:

“- middle school building and innovation lab and kitchen dining area,

“- middle school gymnasium and a multipurpose room, 

“- special education suite and wellness center

“- pool and aquatics center,

“- modernization and expansion high school gymnasium 

“- as well as the performing arts center.”

The idea – take the plunge – and give Malibu a school campus that is equal to magnificent Santa Monica high school campus built over the past decade down the road.

The $395 million Malibu bond issue is very large compared to the small number of students who would be served at the school.  

That is the assessment of one school board member, Jon Kean.  He compares the $395 million Malibu bond issue to the simultaneous $495 million bond being put before Santa Monica.

Of course … Santa Monica High School is nearly completely new … built in part with tax money coming from Malibu in bond issues nearly 20 years ago.

At Thursday’s meeting … Kean said he hopes the Malibu school committee has read the cards correctly.

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“I’m not in that group… so I assume that the group approved it. And that there is interest and desire in Malibu. 

“I’m not sure what the polling showed for this number but I hope that it’s adequate because Malibu did have a good showing on the last bond issue. 

“But I will say it’s a big number. It’s a big number. It’s a big number.for a smaller cohort of students.  We’re looking at $495 million and we’re saying ‘that’s a big number.’ 

“So I do hope that the community vetted this and that the community had its voices heard.”

Stacy Rouse is the lone person from Malibu on the school board … and Rouse has been instrumental in finding out what Malibu wants for its schools … and how much the community will want to pay.

And she assured the school board that a survey of Malibu voters shows support for the plan.

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“I will absolutely say it was unanimous and it was well-talked about. 

“There has been … in addition to the polling …  a lot of vetting and reasoning behind it.

“And for us … Measure M in 2018 said there was this amount of work that needed to be done, but that anticipated that  concluded with another bond measure when it would come up later.”

Bond advocates say the consensus of the Malibu community has been measured with a poll.

And they are confidant they will once again win the 55 percent yes vote that they need.

A few voices have been raised on social media, questioning the bond issue’s size in a community with a supposedly-declining student population.  But others note that the population decline trend has reversed in recent years.

And most importantly … the Malibu bond advocates stress that the plan is the size and scope of the projects … ranging from he community swimming pool to the performing arts center … was decided on by a committee of Malibu residents … not by the Santa Monica district. 

Rouse says a poll that they commissioned shows community support.

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“I think there community is under the understanding about what this is for and what it’s about and why it is this amount.

“And there is capacity and willingness.”

Stacy Rouse. 

At Malibu High … parents note that the new construction on each end of the school campus is all well and good. 

But the center of the campus remains a sore spot. 

The gym is substandard and the locker rooms are terrible. 

The swimming pool is falling apart. 

The auditorium is a repurposed cafeteria. It does not have a fly loft. The pit is full of rats. It’s not been maintained very well. It’s a disaster. 

Classrooms near the old gym have lingering trace amounts of PCB in the soil beneath them … and have been sealed off. 

The newest building on campus is nearly 20 years old … and it was a rush job by the Santa Monica school district.  The windows don’t open … the roof leaks … there are no bathrooms and it is a jail block.

Half of the high school classes are in portable buildings that are wearing out. 

Malibu Officials Blast Santa Monica For Abandoning Malibu Independence Session

Report aired Thu Jul 25; posted Sat Jul 27.

Malibu officials are taking the offensive against the Santa Monica school board … and its efforts to derail the independent school district effort.

The city’s mayor and mayor pro tem say Santa Monica’s school board members have walked away from arbitration sessions.

They say the three members of the school board team failed to attend the last three mediation sessions.

Doug Stewart and Marianne Riggins sent this letter … as read by a KBUU reporter:

“Not only were key members not attending our mediation sessions, but it was clear that the District team was not meeting regularly and was not prepared to use our limited mediation time productively.

“After the parties failed to meet the initial goals of the timeline, we recognized that the November target dates were no longer feasible.

“Consequently, we determined that returning to the County Committee was the best use of our resources to ensure a timely and fair resolution.”

In addition … Santa Monica is being accused of making the demand that Malibu withdraw its petition to the county… to break away and form an independent school district.

That petition is the legal tool being used by the city to force Santa Monica to the negotiating table in the first place.

Again … we read from the latter sent by Stewart and Riggins:

“SMMUSD has refused to continue mediation unless we withdraw our request to the County Committee. This ultimatum is unacceptable. Malibu residents and students have waited many years for separation …
Both parties have publicly agreed that separation is in the best interest of all students. These efforts must proceed promptly.”

That was a KBUU reporter … reading the letter sent last night by the city … to Santa Monica.

The school board met Thursday night in Santa Monica… deciding vital local school matters in a city 20 miles away.

Santa Monica School Board Failed To Do Homework, Malibu Official Says

Report aired Fri Jul 26; posted Sat Jul 27.

Why did Santa Monica school board members walk away from the school district divorce talks with Malibu?

It appears … the school board did not do its homework.

That’s the conclusion by Malibu negotiator Paul Grisanti … a city council member. 

He says the Santa Monica school board and the City of Malibu reached a financial agreement on the divorce … and that was the hard part of the deal.

But Santa Monica forgot to give the details to its teachers unions … and they were blindsided. 

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“If you remember when we started daylighting this thing back in May, they were supposed to be daylighting it at the same time. They didn’t do that. And when they did finally show it to Santa Monica, they hadn’t done anything to build any kind of agreements with the teachers.”

Paul Grisanti says Santa Monica had to backtrack … stalling the negotiations with Malibu.

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“The teachers and their union showed up and were saying, ‘what the heck is going on? How come we didn’t know anything about this?’

“They made a basic mistake, in my opinion.

“You’re supposed to tell the people who need to know what’s going to happen, what they need to know, so that they can come up with rational questions instead of just being angry because they didn’t know… This is the first they had heard of it.

So … where does this leave the Santa Monica district and the Malibu school independence movement? 

It leaves it in the hands of an LA county Board of Education committee which will be deciding on it eventually.

Then it goes to the state Board of Education. 

Eventually, the state legislature may have to enact special legislation to make the Malibu school district a reality.

New Principal At Malibu High Named, He’s A Familiar Face

A former assistant principal at Malibu High School is returning to lead the school.

Dr. Adam Almeida has been hired as the school’s new principal.

Almeida had served as the assistant principal of Malibu High School from 2019 to 2022 … before resigning to become an assistant principal at La Canada High School.

During his three years at Malibu … The district says Almeida was involved with all facets of the school … instruction to special to athletics to discipline.

He has risen through the ranks at several schools in a career of more than 25 years,

Adam Almeida replaces Patrick Miller … the principal for five years.

Miller had brought stability to the school … which went through six prinicipals in fie years during a period of Santa Monica district mismanagement a decade ago. 

Miller has been promoted to an executive job at SMMUSD headquarters in Santa Monica. 

The school district is now hiring a new Malibu High School assistant principal.