A version of the following letter was sent to SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyon:
I am the mother of a child in the TK class and a new Webster parent.
It sickens me to think my husband and I moved to Malibu specifically to have our child attend a wonderful public school like Webster and that already after her first 48 hours of attending the school, we had to pull her out because of your poor decisions regarding the unnecessary use of rodenticides on the campus.Â
No child should be breathing in these chemicals or accidentally exposed, but she of all children cannot take the risk of being exposed to these chemicals due to being asthmatic and highly sensitive to environmental allergens.
We moved to Malibu under the assumption we were putting our tax dollars toward a school that was both high quality in education and a safe place for children. Instead, already a couple of days into the school year, our experience has been spoiled. Malibu is a health conscious community, and you being the superintendent should know that and be respectful of the wishes of our city and our philosophies.Â
An empathetic and confident leader would make all her decisions based on how to best protect children, and not make decisions based on legally what she can get away with. You seem to act on false information, archaic ideals, and without a conscience. Your behavior is unconscionable and you should be ashamed of yourself.Â
You act more like a CEO of a chemical company than a superintendent. How many lawsuits and violations do you have against you? You are supposed to be serving the public, not using our money to legally defend your indefensible actions. Have you ever thought that maybe all this chaos your face is of your own making?Â
We are not looking for minimum protection, we are looking for maximum protection. These are our children — do you understand this?
Once again, you have poisoned precious humans with cancer-causing agents and seem to have not one regret. A child’s development and toxic exposure have no do-overs, and education and raising children are about teaching by example. Both Santa Monica and Malibu deserve a leader who walks her talk and teaches our children through her actions by standing for the principles and values of the communities to which she serves.Â
Stacie Cox
Licensed Clinical Social Worker