Santa Monica-Malibu School District programs may be cut if the district is unable to raise more funds. Superintendent repays $85K advance within a week. New priorities are set for interdistrict permits.
By Carolanne Sudderth/Ocean Park Gazette
In the face of a deepening deficit over the next several years, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) board took further steps toward putting another property tax measure on the November ballot.
The SMMUSD is continuing to face a dire financial future, with $2.8 million worth of cuts to be made next year to achieve a barely balanced budget. Reserves will be cut down to the minimum.
Next year, the board will be struggling to maintain even that, Assistant Superintendent Ken Bailey said.
Santa Monica city will not be able bail the district out this time. For the past several years, the Santa Monica City Council has proffered schools an extra $1 million, when schools began to cry more money or say goodbye to the arts programs.
This year, however, the city is cutting its own budget some 5 percent to 7 percent.
Superintendent John Deasy said City Manager Susan McCarthy does not believe there are ongoing funds available. “At the moment, that does not seem possible,” he said.
The school board is looking more and more toward a ballot measure that would raise property taxes by $98 (plus an annual increase per the Consumer Price Index). Proposition Y comes on the heels of Proposition U, a $160-million bond measure for Santa Monica College, which voters passed in the last election.
At the May 16 school board meeting, a committee was appointed to investigate the viability of such a measure. Members from Malibu include:
Shari Davis, Prop X Committee
Katie Lichtig or Julia James, City of Malibu
Deirdre Roney, PTA Council
John Wall, Community-at-large (Malibu)
Kathy Wisnicki, PTA (Point Dume)
Allan Young, Boys and Girls Club
Ex officio members include Craig Hamilton, Chris Harding, Patricia Hoffman, Gloria Reisner and Michael Rich.
A public hearing on the matter will take place at 7 p.m., June 6 in the HRL Laboratories auditorium, 3011 Malibu Canyon Road, in Malibu.
New Malibu principal
New Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School Principal Chi Kim will begin her post in Malibu July 1.
Kim comes to Point Dume from the Reed Union School District in a northern seaside town, Tiburon. She currently serves as principal of Reed Elementary School.
In the Inglewood School District, she held the positions of assistant principal, district liaison, team leader and school site coordinator.
Kim earned a master’s degree in teacher education from UCLA and an administrative services credential at California State University, Dominquez Hills. She also holds a multiple subject teaching credential and earned a bachelor’s of arts degree in psychology.
Superintendent repays loan
SMMUSD Superintendent John Deasy thanked the school board at its May 16 meeting for the short-term loan he received for a down payment on his new north side condo in Santa Monica. He repaid the loan in less than a week.
The $85,000 loan sparked controversy because it came at the same time as reports of the school district’s current financial crisis.
Deasy purchased a $900,000-plus, luxury condo near 20th and Idaho streets in Santa Monica.
Interdistrict permits
New priorities were set for out-of-district students attending SMMUSD schools. Effective Sept. 22, there will be a moratorium on requests for new interdistrict permits. Students currently attending on an interdistrict permit will be allowed to remain in the district until they leave or graduate.
In the event that space opens up within the SMMUSD, requests for permits will be granted in the following order:
1. Children of SMMUSD employees.
2. Children of employees of the cities of Santa Monica or Malibu.
3. Children entering Grades Kindergarten, 1, 6 or 9 who have siblings in the SMMUSD on interdistrict permits.
4. Children in Santa Monica or Malibu who wish to attend a school other than the one in their neighborhood.
In other news, board member Pam Brady announced she would not be seeking reelection this fall. Her voice quavered as she said she would be exchanging the school board activities for gainful employment.
“My husband has been cut from corporate world, and I find that I can no longer volunteer the time,” she said. “So get up off your hind ends and get up here, and start making decision for kids because there’s not a better job on the planet.”