In response to “Letter: Feasible Solutions” published on Nov. 23.
Whitesell’s letter from last week highlighted the importance of helping not only Malibu but also residents of Santa Monica—that would be Whitesell—get informed about Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s particular make-up. Her claim that SMMUSD is just like other California districts is not accurate.
While she is correct that some other California school districts serve more than one city, SMMUSD is the only district in the state which is comprised of discontiguous cities. SMMUSD is an anomaly in that Malibu is separated from Santa Monica (SM) by another city, another school district and 20 miles of highway. No connection at all—this is what discontiguous means. The creation of all discontiguous districts in California was made illegal in the 1980s for good reason—they don’t work.
“Without connection,” practically speaking, means that, because we are 20 miles away from each other, our kids don’t share the same schools, sports fields, playgrounds, teachers or friends. Malibu doesn’t have equal power at the ballot; SM residents have all the power with a population of 94,000 people versus Malibu’s 13,000. Because of this separation, absence of school sharing, and the SM-heavy school board, SM schools will always be the main focus of the board’s attention—that’s the way the system is set up. This inherent unfairness is precisely why this type of school district was deemed illegal.
Malibu is simply fighting to be consistent with all other California school districts. Why should an exception be made to benefit SM financially when Malibu suffers from being disconnected geographically, culturally and physically? Like other cities that have been granted independence from a distant district, Malibu demands the same so that we can strengthen our close-knit community through the bonding experience of governing and running our own schools. SM should look to the law, separate the districts (thankfully both cities are wealthy so no problem there) and let Malibu enjoy what SM has enjoyed for many years: local control.
Jessica Isles