On top of serving its own students during wildfire recovery, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District has to account for a potential surge of new enrollees created from the crisis.
During a two-hour wildfire debriefing by the SMMUSD Board of Education Jan. 23, Director of Student Services Dr. Frank Dussan stated that 145 documented requests for enrollment have come in thus far from students displaced by wildfires. Of those 145 requests, 77 had been approved for enrollment, and 46 of those have enrolled in SMMUSD schools.
Dussan added that the situation is “pretty fluid” and that numbers will fluctuate as family situations change. This not only includes more new enrollments, but also those who temporarily enrolled finding a new educational home.
He explained that displaced non-SMMUSD students’ families can inquire for enrollment in three categories. First, Santa Monica student residents currently attending charter schools can transfer, followed by two government actions.
Displaced students can also be added via the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, a federal law providing educational rights and services to students experiencing homelessness.
According to the act “homeless” children are defined as those “who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence” due to “loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason.” Under the act, homeless children and youth “must be enrolled in school immediately,” even if they have missed enrollment deadlines during any period of homelessness.
A third way displaced students can join SMMUSD is through a recent executive order signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, aimed at assisting displaced students affected by the wildfires. The order suspends a number of state rules to allow displaced students to attend schools outside of their district, and directs state agencies to work with schools destroyed or damaged to develop a plan for serving those displaced.
“We are using the full force of the state government to respond to the Los Angeles firestorms and ensure recovery for the thousands of residents who have been impacted by this unimaginable loss, including school-aged children,” Newsom stated. “The executive order I signed … will help bring back some sense of normalcy for our youth by eliminating barriers to getting them back to school.”
Dussan has been working with displaced families under McKinney-Vento and the executive order, adding that he “can’t deny that it’s going to impact [us] on some level.”
“It guarantees enrollment in our districts and it comes with additional protections, so we’re working with those families to identify their needs and enroll them as soon as we can,” Dussan said.
What came to mind of SMMUSD officials during discussion of enrollment was the district’s Basic Aid status. Superintendent Dr. Antonio Shelton explained that this status typically means that no additional funding comes with any new student, adding that the district is trying to facilitate the process of taking students without hurting class sizes.
Assistant Superintendent of Business and Fiscal Services Melody Canady said she has started conversations with State Sen. Ben Allen’s office and Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur’s office regarding the unfunded mandate for new students who are displaced.
On the student and health services end, the district’s Bilingual Community Liaisons have been receiving McKinney-Vento training and will be conducting campus tours, while the SMMUSD Mental Health Coordinator will collaborate with the City of Santa Monica on the McKinney-Vento process.
