Here we go again. The City of Malibu and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District are making big plans while ignoring current problems. And why are they excluding their neighbors and the residents of Malibu Park in the design phases of the Malibu High School expansion?
In 1992, when the junior high expanded into a high school, the community of Malibu Park, with a good neighbor policy, participated in the process with great enthusiasm. We all worked together to design the school’s facilities to meet an enrollment of around 700 students.
Today, the school has reached approximately 1300 students. The Boys and Girls Club was randomly located on the campus. The school’s open sports fields are used by many “outsiders”-year round and at all hours. Posted rules are often ignored. There is negligible security. Traffic congestion and parking problems have become horrendous. Noise levels continue 7 days a week. And the field and building lights often go unchecked.
The new proposed plans suggest permanent football field lighting, which are illegal in our Malibu Park community. The new two-story Library and Administrative Building are huge and not intended as community project or designed as green buildings. There are no plans for solving the traffic issues. Cement bleachers will contribute to noise levels if directed in a northern direction. Are the City of Malibu and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District also planning a new Junior College campus in Malibu Park?
Change and updating the Malibu High School is absolutely necessary. However, shouldn’t we spend a bit of money solving these problems first? Otherwise the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District may be spending huge mounts of money to create even bigger problems.
Dawn Navarro Ericson