AMPS (Advocates for Malibu Public Schools) has officially launched a petition to place school district separation on a ballot for a Malibu general election, reinforced by a recent study that shows district separation is viable and mutually beneficial to both the Malibu and Santa Monica communities.
The study, undertaken by West Ed, a “national nonpartisan, nonprofit research, development and service agency” contracted by AMPS, found the following:
Based on the updated analysis, and known facts as they stand, this review concludes that the reorganization of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District into two unified school districts meets statutory state criteria for reorganization with all nine criteria being substantially met.
“All the work’s been completed. We substantially met all nine criteria. There are no hurdles,” Manel Sweetmore, AMPS Chief Operating Officer and member of the School Board’s Financial Oversight Committee (FOC), said. Sweetmore was speaking at an AMPS town hall meeting that took place Wednesday, Aug. 26 in the Multi-purpose Room at Malibu City Hall.
The town hall, which was attended by around 50 Malibuites, mostly parents of current Malibu students, served as a rally to kick the petition — and fundraising — process into high gear. AMPS has one goal: creating a Malibu Unified School District (MUSD), breaking Malibu and the surrounding unincorporated areas into a district independent of the Santa Monica-based current district. According to the meeting, this goal could be fully met as early as Fall 2017.
West Ed study
The 130-page feasibility study explored nine criteria set by the State of California:
1. Adequate enrollment
2. Community identity
3. Equitable property and facility division
4. Non-promotion of racial/ethnic discrimination or segregation
5. No increase in state costs
6. No disruption to educational programs or performance
7. No increase in school housing costs
8. Not designed to increase property values
9. No substantial negative impact on district fiscal management or status
Property and facility division, as well as impacts on district fiscal management, were discussed by the FOC during a July SMMUSD meeting.
There had been rumblings around last November’s school board elections about racial issues, including statements made by School Board Member Ralph Mechur that he had “a problem … with people speaking in large politics about issues but yet their main effort is to create this separate, rich, 90 percent white district that won’t have to deal with any of these issues,” during a Board of Education candidate debate hosted by The Committee for Racial Justice.
Since that time, Mechur has softened his rhetoric.
“I’m reaching out to people who feel that I was not the best candidate,” he said when he was reappointed to the Board in January.
According to the West Ed report, the MUSD would be about 78 percent white, while the SMUSD (Santa Monica Unified School District) would be 45 percent white.
“The population of non-white students, especially Hispanics [in the SMUSD], will certainly grow, but based on the data … it will not grow to such a level as to merit concern about segregation,” the study read.
This study has been largely a collaborative effort between West Ed, AMPS and the SMMUSD, according to the district.
“The district provided considerable data and information for this report and consulted with AMPS and WestEd throughout the process,” a statement provided by district spokesperson Gail Pinsker read.
“The District and Board of Education are currently reviewing all aspects of the study, which requires thorough and careful consideration,” the statement continued.
A Board of Education subcommittee, comprised of Board President Laurie Lieberman, together with Board Member Jose Escarce and Board Member and former AMPS president Craig Foster, is working with district staff to review the findings.
Next steps
In addition to gathering signatures from 4,500 voters, a goal set by AMPS to ensure they have no issues exceeding the 2,750 minimum number of signatures for their petition, the group is looking for $250,000 to hire attorneys to move the process forward.
“The school district has told us that for us to proceed, we need to assume responsibility for hiring the attorneys that will lay out the legal path by which this would take place, and then to execute that path,” AMPS Executive Board member John Miller said during the town hall.
Miller broke down the $250,000, pointing out that if enough Malibu families redirected even a small percentage of the money they usually give to charity to AMPS, the drive would be a quick success.
The next step for AMPS is to have the idea pass the SMMUSD Board of Education by a simple majority, something AMPS members are fairly confident can happen.
“At the end of all this, a lot of the resistance has died down. It seems like, ‘yeah, this is really the way to go,’” Sweetmore said.