Regarding the article titled “District staff may begin advertising spots in Malibu Schools” in The Malibu Times, it seems the district wants to know why enrollment is down at our schools. The article states that demographics “a decline in residents” and a permitting issue “a change in permit requirements” are possibly the reason for the decline. A chart is provided that shows the largest drop in enrollment at Malibu High School was this school year 2014/15 from 1161-1112 for a total loss of 49 students. And although the PCB issue at Malibu High School went viral in 2013-14, it is not mentioned as a possible cause.
This drop was caused by two things: the ridiculous way the PCB issue is being handled, or should I say not handled, and Sandra Lyon’s “brilliant idea” to change the way funds raised by parents would be used. District-wide fundraising has decimated our Malibu schools. The surprise is not that the number of children in our schools has dropped but that it has not dropped by much more. As parents realize that the district has no regard for the health of the students and as the schools are stripped because parents cannot raise money, the numbers of students will drop further.
I am an active community member, 11 years on the PTAs at Juan Cabrillo and MHS. District-wide fundraising accompanied with the PCB issue has led me to withdraw my two older children from MHS and place my first grader in private school. I, like many parents in our community, have completely lost faith in our district.
Sandra Lyon has no problem spending millions of dollars on consultants, big firms and lawyers; so why not hire an advertising agency as well? I think it’s necessary if they want to recruit students from surrounding communities. If our families don’t want to send their kids to our local schools, why would anyone else want to commute to have their children exposed to all these problems and known carcinogens?
Justine Petretti