I want to thank The Malibu Times for raising awareness about the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District budget crisis and questioning planned cuts that will impact district sports and physical education programs. These cuts include athletic trainers, team transportation and lifeguards, physical activity specialists (PAS) and PE instructional assistants (IAPE) positions at all schools located in Malibu.
Unfortunately, under the current plan, these positions, along with the IAPE staff they work closely with each day, are in Budget Restoration Package II and would not be restored with the passage of the Measure S Parcel Tax in June. The plan calls for Package II cuts to be restored only if there is a substantial increase in contributions from the cities of Malibu and Santa Monica to offset the looming budget deficit especially in the area of maintenance and operations.
Contributions from both cities are tied to joint use of school facilities. There may be some misunderstanding in the community caused by the Facilities Use and Schedule of Fees policy revision currently under consideration by the Board of Education. I have met with youth sports leaders, including representatives from Malibu, to get comments, feedback, and recommendations regarding the policy and fees. Many of these recommendations are in the revised policy proposal currently under consideration by the Board.
The SMMUSD Facilities Use policy and Schedule of Fees now under review has not been updated since 1993. It didn’t identify or list fees for use of many playfields and other sports and recreational facilities. Analyzing and updating the Facilities Fee Schedule included identifying facilities in use and determining labor, management, materials, utilities, supplies and equipment costs or fair market rental value. During this review process we realized we needed corresponding changes in the joint use agreements we currently have with both the City of Malibu and Santa Monica.
I hope this has clarified some of issues that have been of concern to the Malibu community. Access to the school district facilities for recreational use continues unabated. We look forward to working closely with our partners in the community and City to expand and improve access so that every child in our community has a safe place to play while the District becomes a better manager of its facilities and maintains them for their primary educational purpose.
Chris Corliss,
Sports and Physical Education Program Coordinator
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District