Name: Karen Farrer
Age: 55
Occupation: Community volunteer
Neighborhood in which you live: Point Dume
Marital status/kids: Married 29 years/three children.
If you have children, do they attend local public schools? If yes, which ones?
My two older children attended Malibu schools. My youngest daughter is currently in seventh grade at Malibu High School.
Education: UCLA, B.A. in sociology
Why are you running for the school board and what do you want to accomplish if elected?
I do not have political aspirations beyond the improvement of the Santa Monica and Malibu schools. If elected, I would work to pass a motion to “unify” the Malibu schools as quickly as possible. By doing so, we could increase our collective revenues allowing us to hire 20 new teachers in Santa Monica and 10 in Malibu. Lowering class size is a primary goal of mine and of the reform slate. Each community should be able to give its students the best education possible.
Prop. 30, Prop. 38, or neither?
Both. We must work to improve all of our public schools and public services.
Do you support separating Malibu and Santa Monica into separate districts?
I strongly believe Malibu should separate. The economic advantage for both cities has been acknowledged by the SMMUSD CFO Jan Maez. Aside from that, most of us in Malibu are really tired of our stepchild status.
What are your thoughts on the decision to move to districtwide fundraising?
I was, and am, against districtwide fundraising. Many of us in both Santa Monica and Malibu advised against it in numerous Board of Education meetings but it became evident that the board’s and the superintendent’s decision was predetermined. I later served on the Superintendent’s Advisory Group and my opinions—and those of many others in both Santa Monica and Malibu—were ignored. Furthermore, it was exasperating to hear the paid consultants give point-by-point the recommendations that many of us had stated repeatedly for free. The plan cannot commence until and unless the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation finds alternative funding.
If elected, would you vote to close smaller schools and consolidate to save money?
Absolutely not. Savings can be found in the bloated bureaucracy at 1651 16th St. SMMUSD spends double in administrative costs what some similar-size districts in our area do, such as Oak Park Unified School District in the Conejo County.