This story has been updated. Please see editor’s note below.
If there was any doubt as to whether the new makeup of the Malibu City Council could form a cohesive voice, it was cast away on Monday night as the body unanimously voted to support plans for an independent Malibu school district.
Council voted to express official approval of the report’s findings and to urge the school board to approve recommendations and officially kick-start the process of separating districts.
“We don’t all agree on a lot of things, but I can’t think of any subject that probably has greater support in general than this subject that’s being undertaken,” Council Member Rick Mullen said at the Monday, March 27 meeting, addressing the four Santa Monica-Malibu School Board members in attendance. “I really appreciate all the hard work that’s gone into it.”
Malibu City Council, now a couple months into its new term, has had some tense hearings. New members Mullen and Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner replaced John Sibert and Joan House and, together with incumbent Skylar Peak, have shaken up the status quo on the dias. That division was highlighted at the hearing directly before the school district separation negotiation on Monday night, where Mullen, Wagner and Peak voted against Laura Rosenthal and Mayor Lou La Monte to shore up rules, clarifying that so-called “ex parte” commission members (non-voting members of Malibu commissions) must live outside the bounds of the City of Malibu — and, in effect, booting long-serving Parks and Recreation Commission Member Carl Randall from his seat.
That discord turned to harmony following the presentation by the district separation negotiators.
“I just want to echo what Rick said,” La Monte added during the hearing. “My personal thanks, because all the members of the MUNC (Malibu Unification Negotiation Committee) had both Santa Monica and Malibu in mind all the way through.”
Though the vast majority of the standing-room-only crowd on Monday was there to show support for the report, some questions were raised that were outside the scope of the financial report, including support for special needs students.
“It’s not that we don’t have questions, it’s that this isn’t the place for those questions… We have a zillion questions but … you can’t answer questions about class size, and other things teachers are really concerned about, like special ed.,” Malibu Middle School teacher Julie Hoos told council after a request for questions from the audience. “We’d like to get to the point where our questions can be answered, and we appreciate anything you can do to get us to that point.”
There was also concern expressed about living under the shadow of a looming separation — a feeling that makes some in the district administration uneasy, according to Facilities Manager Cary Upton.
“It just doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen as quickly as everyone wants, and what makes it difficult as somebody who works for the school district is this idea that everybody thinks it might happen next year or the following year, and I’d like everybody to be a little more realistic,” Upton said. “I feel like it’s hard to do my job with this feeling that any moment it’s going to happen.”
Estimates from the committee had separation, at its earliest realistic starting point, beginning in the 2018-19 school year, though it would be a slow transition into full independence.
Details of the plan, outlined in a nearly 70-page document, explain the analysis and formulas created to make a mutually beneficial split, but in summary, the Malibu Unified School District, because it would generate more funds per student than the Santa Monica Unified School District in its first few years of operation, would agree to pay $57 million over the course of about 19 years to Santa Monica — until the 2037-38 school year. For the first 12 years of its existence, Malibu would agree to pay Santa Monica, but in order to make payment easier, it was agreed the new district would spread payments out over 19 years. In other words, it would take until 2030 for the Santa Monica district to make enough money on its own to not be harmed by the split, so Malibu agrees to make up the difference, over time. Despite this pay structure, Malibu students would still be better funded than they are in the current SMMUSD model, because of Malibu’s high property tax revenue.
Assuming the school board votes to approve the plan (at least four of seven members vote in favor), there are still several hoops to jump.
Santa Monica residents must vote to approve the split in a majority (50 percent-plus-one) vote, and Malibu voters (in the greater Malibu area served by the schools) must approve the split in a majority vote, must elect a new school board in a majority vote and must approve a new parcel tax by a two-thirds majority. Experts stress the new parcel tax will not increase present tax rates, and may even lower taxes for some.
The item comes up for discussion before the SMMUSD Board of Education on April 20.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story misstated how long Malibu Unified School District would deliver funds to Santa Monica United School District. The story has been updated with correct information.