Children who live in Malibu and Santa Monica will have first choice of schools within the district.
By Michelle Logsdon/Special to The Malibu Times
After several emotionally charged pleas, local parents got what they wanted last Thursday from the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board of Education (BOE). The board unanimously voted to give residents first priority when filling open spaces in district schools this year.
Intradistrict permits allow parents to enroll their children in schools other than the one in their neighborhood. Those types of permits had been at the bottom of the district’s priority list, until last week’s meeting. Before the Thursday meeting, the SMMUSD permit priority list granted interdistrict permits to students who live outside of Malibu or Santa Monica before allowing resident students to move between schools.
Ahead of permits for local children were interdistrict permits for children of employees of the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu; students entering kindergarten, first, sixth or ninth grade that were siblings of current interdistrict permit holders; and children of SMMUSD employees.
“There appears to be confusion of the board’s priorities concerning resident school children,” said parent and Santa Monica resident Marc Verville.
Verville stated his surprise at the 20 percent non-resident enrollment rate in SMMUSD schools.
“Do you really believe that if the district’s taxpayers were aware of that situation they would actually approve the upcoming ballot measure?” he asked the board.
The measure Verville is referring to is a $300 parcel tax that residents will vote on in November.
For the past several years the district has been allowing interdistrict permits as a way of increasing its operating budget. The state pays each district an Average Daily Attendance (ADA) allowance per student; therefore, one way to fill district coffers is by increasing enrollment. Now the board has to deal with a moratorium on interdistrict permits and the inevitable problem of splitting up families who already have one or more children at SMMUSD schools.
When board President Julia Brownley tried to justify the existing priority list, parents at the meeting reacted with angry outbursts.
Parent Kevin McCarthy yelled, “Have some courage and do the right thing for once!”
Brownley told McCarthy he would have to leave the meeting if he interrupted again. He walked out.
Parent Darcy McCarthy told the board it was not their place to give away the resident’s right to choose their school.
“If you want to get this parcel tax passed then you really need to make residents feel that we are given that respect.”
Finally, board member Pam Brady exclaimed that all of the schools in the district were good schools and residents should have first priority in choosing where they send their children.
“We are talking about small numbers of people for very special reasons wanting to make intradistrict changes,” Brady said.
The rest of the board expressed their agreement with Brady by voting to move intradistrict permits to the number one spot on the priority list. After the unanimous vote, the audience exploded with applause.
“This is a huge victory for Malibu residents,” said parent Pamela Taylor.
Her son wants to go to Santa Monica High School instead of his neighborhood school, Malibu High. While he has been in private schools, Taylor’s son has participated in extracurricular activities with children who will attend Santa Monica High.
“He’s grown up with these same kids,” Taylor said.
Despite the celebration over the reprioritization, Taylor is probably one of the few students who will benefit from the change. SMMUSD schools are bulging at the seams with students and very few permits are expected to be issued.
“There are no spots available,” said Maggie Hanson of the district’s permit office. “Most likely, the only openings will be at Santa Monica High School.”
The enrollment numbers were tallied earlier this week and parents should know within a few days whether or not they will be granted an intradistrict permit.