At its meeting Thursday night, the SMMUSD Board of Education directed Superintendent Sandy Lyon to gather more information on what sort of power the Malibu education community will have in allocating bond money from Measure ES.
If the bond passes, Malibu is guaranteed at least $77 million dollars from the $385-million measure. Board members are set on creating an advisory committee that would make suggestions to the board on how Malibu’s share of the money is spent. But some community members want a stronger legal guarantee for Malibu to have a say in where the money goes. None of the Board of Education members represent Malibu and a Malibu rep has not sat on the board since 2008.
Board of Ed candidates Seth Jacobson, Craig Foster and Malibu City Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal asked the board to consider a joint powers authority or another JPA-type deal under which two representatives from the district and two representatives from the City of Malibu would have the legal right to allocate Malibu’s share of the bond money. Lyon is set to meet with Foster, Jacobson, Rosenthal and other community members to hear more suggestions. She will present her findings to the board at its next meeting on Oct. 18.
In order to pass, Measure ES needs a 55 percent approval from local voters in November. Homeowners, on average, would pay $185 per year on average over the course of 25 to 30 years. Renters would pay around $16 annually.