Parents of Webster students took a slightly different path into school this week, heading to the library for registration since the administration building was out of commission.
Construction delays at the elementary school campus, which include missing windows in the administration building and in one classroom building, have carried on into the school year, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Bond Program Manager Steve Massetti told The Malibu Times Tuesday.
“One of the elements of the project was to replace all of the windows on campus, and in two of the buildings … we have not yet started on replacing the windows,” Massetti said, “because the project overall was behind schedule, and if we took both of those buildings out of commission during the summer we wouldn’t have had enough classroom space.”
Massetti said as windows are replaced in the first two-to-three months of the fall 2017 semester, teachers would be moving classrooms into buildings with new windows. He added that although he wasn’t an expert, he felt confident the impact to students would be minimal—though teachers may feel the stress of moving classrooms.
“I think it might be a little stressful for the teachers, so any time you have to move is tough, so when you have to do it mid-semester, it’s tougher,” Massetti said. “That may be in some cases a serious inconvenient for them, but in terms of day to day interruption, it won’t be. All the moves will take place over the weekend.”
The administration building, which also houses the nurse’s station where intense termite damage was discovered earlier this year, should be completed and reopened in “a matter of weeks.”
Boys and Girls Club opens at Webster
The Malibu Boys and Girls Club opened a new clubhouse at Webster Elementary on Friday, expanding its reach to every school campus in Malibu.
“My goal is that the impact will be very similar to what we experienced between Malibu Middle School and High School and the teen center,” Executive Director Kasey Earnest described. “I always tell everyone the club’s role is to fill the gap between where the school and parents need extra support. And wherever we can do that, our goal is to facilitate that.”
The new location was made possible with the help of Amy Cohen and family, the Webster PTA, and Jones Builder Group, which “completely redid the bungalow with new floors, counter tops, elevated ceiling and windows,” an email described. “We now have a clean, safe and inspiring space for kids to be after school.”
Earnest also mentioned the club’s new partnership with the City of Malibu’s Community Services Department.
Earnest said the club was meant to be part of the school’s “support system,” which will include helping on late start days.
“Webster is the only school that has late start on Wednesdays … it’s really, really hard for parents, so we’re going to open the clubhouse at Webster at 8:15 to try and ease that burden a little bit,” she said.
PCBs at Malibu High will not delay project
Massetti also confirmed reports that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found in the foundation of the administration building at the Malibu High School campus, but that the discovery (and subsequent halt to demolition of the immense cement slab) “won’t have an impact on the school year.
“That’s a building that we’ve already emptied out and we’re never putting people back into it,” Massetti clarified. “We found PCBs in the concrete slab in a building we’re about to demolish.”
The delay largely has to do with the increased cost of hazardous waste disposal.
“When you’re talking about the entire slab floor of a pretty good size building, it’s bulky and heavy and expensive to get rid of,” Massetti said. “We’re trying to come up with the least expensive way to dispose of the material, and that’s what’s put us on hold now.”
When it comes to costs, though Massetti could not come up with an exact amount, he said with delays “there almost always is financial impact.”
“I would say that although I couldn’t at this point quantify what the impacts will be, the delays and the issues that led to the delays do absolutely have a financial impact to the district,” Massetti said.
SMMUSD ranks among California’s best school districts
In a ranking of nearly 500 school districts in California, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) came in at 29 on the 2018 Best School Districts in California. Malibu High School received an “A” grade for its academics and educational outcomes, which include data from SAT and ACT scores as well as the rank of colleges and universities matriculated students attend.
Niche, the national academic ranking service that conducted the study, used statistics and reviews from parents and students alike collected from the U.S. Department of Education. These statistics included state test scores, college readiness, graduation rates, standardized testing scores and teacher quality among other factors.
Shivani Patel contributed to this report.
