A federal judge ruled Thursday, Sept. 1, in favor of America Unites For Kids in a lawsuit that alleged the Santa Monica Malibu School District had violated the Toxic Substances Control Act for failing to remediate Malibu schools for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) — but upheld the current school district schedule for remediation.
“This is a David and Goliath fight and David, defending the innocent children and teachers, won,” President of America Unites for Kids Jennifer deNicola said in a celebratory email to The Malibu Times.
In the 22-page ruling, Judge Percy Anderson concluded that although “a preponderance of evidence supports the conclusion [that] building materials containing PCBs in excess of 50 [parts per million] continue to exist at the Malibu campus,” the district’s current plans for remediation were a satisfactory solution to the issue.
From the school district’s perspective, according to an email sent to Malibu High School and Juan Cabrillo parents, the ruling was a victory for the current remediation plan.
“U.S. District Court Judge Percy Anderson of the Central District of California validated the approach taken by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District to modernize two of its Malibu campuses,” reads the opening line of the email, sent Friday morning.
Earlier this year, SMMUSD initiated the “Windows, Paint, Floors and Doors” modernization program, which intends to replace all building materials that have not been replaced in the past 25 years. This modernization program was slated to complete by 2018, though according to court documents the school district gave a deadline of 2020 for the project.
The federal ruling now court orders the project to complete by Dec. 31, 2019.
“We respect the court’s determination in this case,” Board of Education President Laurie Lieberman said in the letter to parents. “With the planned modernization already in the works at Malibu High School and nearly complete at Cabrillo, which is the court’s endorsed remedy, we’re very pleased to now turn back to our primary purpose of providing quality education for our students.”
Look for a longer version of this story in newsstands Sept. 8.