Once upon a time there was a little red schoolhouse on a mountain overlooking the sea. It was built for the few children scattered through Malibu. Eventually, it became overcrowded, but there were not enough children to form a MUSD. Hence, SMMUSD was born.
Then children by the hundreds moved to Malibu. Three elementary schools and a middle school were built. Malibu became a city. Malibu High School was constructed, as well as a Boys and Girls Club. The vast majority of Malibu children have not traveled to Santa Monica schools for over a decade.
Malibu has matured into a fully grown, unique community with a strong identity. There are Malibu civic, environmental, cultural and youth groups, as well as a Farmers’ Market, Film Festival, Chili Cook-Off, stage company, art shows, surf contests, Chumash Day, Chamber of Commerce, courthouse, library, post offices, urgent care center, theatres for movie and stage, senior center, two newspapers, numerous houses of worship, and even our own museum.
However, there is one thing Malibu does not have the ability to call our own: our children. This is not due to a lack of good intentions from SMMUSD officials, school board members or citizens. It is just that the administrators responsible for educating Malibu’s children are located at least twenty miles from four of Malibu’s five schools in an entirely different city that doesn’t share a border with Malibu. Malibu children comprise a mere 18 percent of SMMUSD’s children. Malibu voters comprise only 16 percent of the district’s voters. MUST (Malibu Unified School Team) is not a movement to withdraw from civic responsibility, but rather to dramatically increase it.
The SMMUSD School Board unanimously supports Malibu’s effort to ask ourselves, in the form of a ballot question, whether we want to educate our children in a school district 100 percent controlled by and accountable to Malibu citizens. MUST is finalizing the financial portion of a feasibility study. We envision the creation of two districts that share resources, students, and teachers, to increase educational and employment opportunities for all. We look forward to a collaborative dialogue about the future.
Deirdre Roney
MUST Member