If you know me, you know that I have been fighting to improve public education for the children of Malibu for decades, alongside many of you in the community.
If there is one thing that you can do today to help that effort, it is this: complete the city’s online survey by Nov. 12 at MalibuCity.org/MUSDSurvey. The survey is part of the city’s visioning project to develop a set of community values to serve as a roadmap for the proposed Malibu Unified School District.
The visioning project is a crucial part of our effort to separate from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SM-MUSD) and create our own independent Malibu Unified School District. This is about local control, self-determination and our childrens’ futures.
It is also about the future of our community itself, because good public schools are necessary for any healthy, thriving community.
As a parent of students who attended SM-MUSD schools and a founding member of Malibu’s school district separation effort, I have seen firsthand how our students’ educations have suffered because they did not have access to programs and resources including academic, art, music, afterschool programs, tutoring and many other programs that were offered exclusively to students in Santa Monica schools.
We are now at a crucial moment, when we have the chance, in fact the responsibility, to make sure that a future Malibu Unified School District will reflect our community’s values. So please, take the survey, whether you are a parent of school-age children or not, and share this message with your friends, neighbors and networks.
You can find FAQs, details about upcoming meetings, and other important information to help you get involved on the city webpage at MalibuCity.org/MUSD.
Karen Farrer
Malibu City Council