Meet the SMMUSD School Board candidates: Seth Jacobson

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Seth Jacobson

Age: 55

Occupation: Public policy advisor/education activist

Neighborhood in which you live: Malibu

Marital status/kids: Married/three children

If you have children, do they attend local public schools? Juan Cabrillo, second and fifth grade; Malibu High School, 12th grade

Education: New York University

Why are you running for the school board and what do you want to accomplish if elected?

We [Craig Foster, Karen Farrer and Jacobson] are running for school board to demonstrate that there needs to be an effort made to rethink and reimagine our school district. We believe that the district must move beyond the politics of neighborhood vs. neighborhood and to instead focus on each and every student’s educational success, on eliminating the waste and redundancy in the district organization, and on essential class size reductions.

Prop. 30, Prop. 38, or neither?

Both, especially 38.

Do you support separating Malibu and Santa Monica into separate districts?

This is a fundamental element of our campaign for the Board of Education. The separation of the two districts will bring much needed funds to each independent district resulting in better fiscal balance, increased innovation, clearer focus and greater advancement in both districts.

What are your thoughts on the decision to move to districtwide fundraising?

The board’s conduct was a textbook example of how not to conduct policy. With its predetermined conclusion and widespread use of intimidation, the school board fractured the district and created animosities and scars which will outlast the tenure of the board members involved. As part of the Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, I worked to find a compromise that worked for all the schools in the district. I supported the consultants’ recommendation that no program should be introduced until the Santa Monica-Malibu Education Foundation has in place a fundraising mechanism that will allow it to raise the necessary funds. Secondly, no program should compromise any school site’s basic programs.

What role do you envision playing on the school board?

Placing the main focus of the board and the administration on student’s success and shaking up the status quo.

If elected would you vote to close smaller schools and consolidate to save money?

Decisions on closing schools would be put off until the two districts are separated and an analysis of needs for each district is done.