To the outside observer, the first day of school in Malibu on Tuesday looked like any other first day: students with brand new shoes and jackets meeting in the parking lot, and parents giving one-armed hugs across steering wheels.
There was little to betray the underlying tension that many parents and students feel about PCB levels in Malibu High.
There were only two visible indications that there is controversy surrounding this school year on Tuesday morning. First, white TV news vans were lined up across the street from the high school, with an eager-looking cameraman and a broadcaster in a blazer staking out the traffic flow. Second, an L.A. County Sheriff vehicle was parked out front of the school, with two deputies leaning on the hood.
“The only excitement we’ve had is Channel 11,” said Officer Dave Diestel, glancing at the nearby news vans.
Diestel and another officer were on hand throughout the morning, after rumors of a demonstration spread to the sheriffs. But it seemed nothing was amiss.
Hope Edelman, the secretary of Malibu Unites and a Malibu parent, said on Tuesday there was no way Malibu Unites would have held a demonstration for the first day of school.
“That was never the plan,” Edelman said.
Since October, when several MHS teachers first expressed their fear that multiple diagnoses of thyroid cancer amongst faculty could be traced to building materials in the high school, there has been turmoil surrounding the issue of safety at the school.
“Everything is going just like this,” said Diestel, gesturing to the orderly line of vehicles dropping off kids to the front steps of Malibu High School.
Standing at the foot of those steps was new MHS principal Dave Jackson, who smiled as he opened the passenger door of a pickup truck and greeted the student who hopped out.
“Good morning, thanks for dropping him off,” Jackson said to the dad driving, before shutting the door and moving on to the next car.
“These are our parents, our kids, and we want them to feel welcome,” Jackson said of his “valet” tradition. “Everyone seems very happy to be back at school.”
Apparently, that includes faculty and staff, several of whom had previously been wary of teaching in the school.
“According to my secretary, every teacher is here,” Jackson said.
And although official numbers are not in, according to administrators, there is every indication that student numbers are also high, despite well-publicized cases of students being taken out of Malibu schools for safety concerns, including Cindy Crawford’s two children.
“We’re up to our regular numbers, and, as every year, we have a waiting list,” said Carey Upton, Director of Facilities Use for the school district, who was on hand to help out on Tuesday.
Coco Williams, an incoming ninth-grader, said that although she is attending classes at MHS, she knows of a number of students who will not be returning this year.
“I know a lot of people are doing individual studies,” Williams said, “But we do support Malibu High and the staff.”
When asked how she feels about the future of MHS, Williams said it would be a waiting game.
“We’re going to see what ends up happening,” she said.
Other students were more confident that they were safe in the buildings, which recently passed PCB safety levels, according to EPA tests released last week.
“Toxic stuff is stupid and it’s fine,” said a senior as she walked across the parking lot with her brother, who was entering seventh grade. “They should not be scaring the children,” she added.
Lila, an 11th-grader, said she also feels safe in the school.
“I understand everything pretty well, my mom explains it to me,” she said, adding, “I don’t really know what could be done.”
However, parents there to drop off their kids offered suggestions.
“Temporary buildings should be put in while they test the entire school and make a plan for immediate remediation,” said Sherry Stringfield, the mother of students in eighth and fifth grade.
“I’m not comfortable,” Stringfield said when asked how she felt about sending her kids back to Malibu schools this fall.
Another mother who parked to drop off her kids put it bluntly.
“Obviously I feel comfortable enough to send them back,” she said, adding with uncertainty, “I’m just going to keep paying attention to what’s going on.”
Julie Ellerton contributed to this report.
