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8 | November 11, 2020 | MALIBU SURFSIDE NEWS EDUCATIONmalibusurfsidenews.comPOSTED TO malibusurfsidenews.comOfficials lay out arduous, but rewarding,break from Santa Monica schools13DAYS AGOMICHELE WILLER-ALLREDStaff ReporterCould Malibu breakingfree from Santa Monicaschools take more than 20years? Would local taxesincrease if Malibu left theSanta Monica-Malibu UnifiedSchool District? And ispursuing school separationthe right thing to do especiallyduring a pandemic?Those were some of thequestions addressed thisweek during a virtual townhall meeting on school districtseparation.On Oct. 12, the five-memberMalibu City Counciltook a step toward independentlocal schools by votingunanimously to halt separationnegotiations with thedistrict, deciding instead towork directly with the LosAngeles County Office ofEducation. Council membersKaren Farrer and RickMullen, who serve on thecouncil’s ad hoc school separationcommittee, wanted tohave the town hall to discussthe past and future of schoolseparation.Farrer, who has workedfor more than 10 years on theschool separation issue, saidshe understands that havinga school district headquarteredin Santa Monica “witha significant geographic andcultural divide for Malibuis not serving Malibu students.”“I know that our studentswill be better served whenMalibu families have astrong voice in determiningthe educational programmingand facilities that ourchildren receive,” Farrersaid.Mullen said Malibu residentshave the right to localcontrol over the education oftheir children, a group thatmakes up 15 percent of thetotal district student body.He noted the seven-memberSMMUSD Board of Educationhas only one representativefrom Malibu.Mullen said the ad hoccommittee was diligentlyworking to negotiate Malibu’sseparation from thedistrict, but the majority ofthe school board has refusedto support special legislationprotecting parcel tax legislationdeemed critical to separation.Mullen added that theboard’s vote against that“shows they’re not reallyinterested in reaching a dealwith us,” but that Malibuhas a path forward that followsthe State Department ofEducation that will lead to aMalibu Unified School Districtand local control that thearea deserves.“This is one of the biggestchallenges the city is facing,”he said. “We’re led byan extremely well qualifiedteam of experts to help usnavigate that path.”Deputy City AttorneyChristine Wood explainedthat a lot of things need tohappen first before separationbecomes reality. A petitionfor separation has alreadybeen submitted to thecounty Office of Education.If the petition is granted, itthen goes to the state, and, ifapproved, would ultimatelygo to the voters to decide.Some in Malibu, including the five-member City Council,would like to see a Malibu Unified School District freefrom Santa Monica influence. SURFSIDE NEWS ILLUSTRATION“This is really a long process.I just want to make surewe’re giving everyone anunderstanding that this canreally take a very long time,”said Wood, noting that themost widely known schooldistrict unifications that havetaken place in the last decadein Southern Californiahave taken almost 20 yearsor more.“We will try to do everythingwe can to expedite thissituation because we knowthat this has been an ongoingdesire for the community,”Wood added. “But Ijust want the community tounderstand this is not somethingthat’s going to happenquickly.”Cathy Dominico, a financialconsultant working withthe city, said the timeline isdependent on external forces,and could take as little as twoto four years if everythinggoes smoothly. The territorythat would be voting in thatelection, she noticed, has yetto be determined, but it couldpotentially include both Malibuand Santa Monica voters.“If there are major challengesor objections or legalchallenges, of course thattimeline would extend,” shesaid.Because of the dynamicsbetween Malibu and SantaMonica, and the history ofthe SMMUSD having suchcontrol over things that happenin Malibu, Wood added,“this is not going to be somethingthat they’re going toallow to happen very easily.They may be rather litigious.”When asked by an audiencemember if it will beeasier for Malibu to meetlocal and state health departmentCOVOID-19 criteria toreopen classrooms, Dominicosaid she couldn’t imaginethat the current health crisiswould go beyond the timelineof this reorganization.“It is highly likely by thetime we’re done with thisreorganization process, CO-VID will be in the rear-viewmirror,” she said.Dominico added that ifa health or other crisis potentiallydoes happen in thefuture, having local controlallows a school district tohave opportunities and bettermeet compliance based onlocal criteria.Terri Ryland, a businessconsultant on the schoolseparation team, emphasizedthat local taxes would notincrease if Malibu leaves thedistrict.“We’re really just lookingat a reallocation of the currentlevel of taxes, and thosetaxes will stay in the communitythat generates them,which is not the case now,”Ryland said.In the proposed Malibuseparation model, the parceltaxes in either Malibuor Santa Monica would stillg0 where the money is generatedand each respectiveschool district would receivethat funding.The school separationteam addressed a letter releasedWednesday by districtSuperintendent Ben Drati,where he states that separationwould result in “twovery unequal districts,” withSanta Monica students receivingabout half of whatMalibu students would receiveon a per-pupil basiswithin five years.LaTanya Kirk-Carter, aconsultant with a history inthe school business managementfield, responded bysaying that every district hasits own Local Control FundingFormula and differentcriteria controlling per-pupilfunding.Dominico said separationwould result in each districthaving higher per-pupilfunding than the SMMUSD.She also noted other thanthe LCFF property tax sharefrom Malibu, all other localtaxes would stay with thenew Santa Monica schooldistrict.“(Santa Monica) will havethe same level of absolutedollar amount of each ofthose taxes with fewer studentsto educate so theirper-pupil funding grows.Each district will grow basedon the rate of the growth oftheir specific property taxesand once the Santa Monicaschool district is (a Basic Aiddistrict) they will start growingat a much higher compoundedrate.”During the meeting, onespeaker said Drati inferred inhis letter that it’s not a goodtime for Malibu to pursueunification because of thepandemic.When asked if the publichealth issue should put afreeze on separation plans,Dominico reminded participantsthat the process “isvery likely to exceed theterm of the pandemic.“So, we’re talking aboutan idea of putting a freezeon something that is hopefullyrelatively short-term innature. This reorganizationprocess, we need to stay ontop of it, move it forward sothat, hopefully, as soon aspossible, which is still severalyears away, we can actuallysee a reorganized schooldistrict,” Dominico said.Malibu has a “good andcredible case” for separation,she said, adding the planmeets the state DepartmentPlease see DISTRICT, 10
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