City Council Affirms Support for Santa Monica Students in Response to City of Malibu Petition to Split School District
March 24, 2021 12:08 PM
At its meeting last night, the Santa Monica City Council affirmed its support for splitting Santa Monica and Malibu into two separate independent school districts only if the terms of separation, including the division of revenues and assets, are fair and just to students in Santa Monica schools, and provide robust and equal educational opportunity for both Malibu and Santa Monica students.
“The Santa Monica City Council will continue to advocate for what is just and what serves the common good of Santa Monica and Malibu students and families alike,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “Slashing diversity and per pupil funding for Santa Monica students alone is inappropriate and will damage academic and social equity across all of the students and families served by SMMUSD.”
The 13-item motion came at the request of Mayor Sue Himmelrich, Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan, and Councilmember Phil Brock after an April 17 date was set for the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization to hear Malibu’s petition to split from SMMUSD. In a letter to the members of the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization sent on March 10, Mayor Sue Himmelrich and Mayor Pro Tem Kristin McCowan wrote:
“The Malibu Petition would jeopardize this careful balance and the wellbeing of all SMMUSD students by reducing per pupil expenditures for Santa Monica students for the next quarter century while creating a far better funded and significantly less diverse Malibu USD. Indeed, SMMUSD projections show that in year one of divided districts created under the Malibu Petition, Malibu USD would be approximately 78.4% White with per pupil funding starting at $27,651, while Santa Monica USD would have the benefit of SMMUSD’s hallmark diversity but be funded at only $13,759 per pupil (less than half the per pupil expenditure for Malibu USD students). This dramatic inequity would only worsen over time: Pursuant to the proposed formula for revenue growth, Malibu schools would receive approximately $37,599 per student in year five, while Santa Monica per student funding would be $15,486.”
“In Santa Monica, we believe that access to opportunities for learning and growing for all members of our community is key to our individual and collective wellbeing. We take pride in supporting SMMUSD as it strives to achieve its mission across the Santa Monica and Malibu communities of ‘extraordinary achievement for all students while simultaneously closing the achievement gap.’ Because the Malibu Petition would be in grave disservice to SMMUSD students, we implore you to disapprove the Malibu Petition and to ensure that, if SMMUSD is to split into two separate districts, the division of revenues and assets will be fair and just to students in Santa Monica schools and provide robust and equal educational opportunities for both Malibu and Santa Monica students.”
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Media Contact
Constance Farrell
Communications & Public Information Manager
Constance.Farrell@santamonica.gov