A major step was taken this past week toward separating the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) into school districts for the two cities.
On Sept. 12, SMMUSD and the City of Malibu announced that their respective subcommittees have agreed on a proposed school separation package. The package has three key elements, a Revenue Sharing Agreement, an Operational Transfer Agreement and a Joint Powers Agreement.
All agreements are now ready for public review, with finalization and approval expected by both the City of Malibu and SMMUSD Board of Education in October.
“It is a good feeling to share these long-awaited agreements with the public and I am looking forward to participating in many discussions prior to any votes being taken,” SMMUSD Board of Education Vice President and unification subcommittee member Jon Kean said. “While there is a lot left to do, this is yet another significant milestone toward unification.”
What is left to do, post-approval from Malibu and the SMMUSD board, is to involve the Los Angeles County Office of Education County Committee on School District Organization in scheduling a public hearing. A joint press release on the matter stated the hearing may take place as early as November.
Revenue sharing was previously discussed in two public hearings, one in Malibu and one in Santa Monica, with the formula broken down into a “base year calculation” to be determined once in the first year of separation, and an “annual calculation” for each subsequent fiscal year until agreement termination.
For the base year, the amount of revenue per pupil of SMMUSD is identified, then adds $600 to the per pupil revenue to adjust for the additional cost of serving Malibu students. The adjusted per pupil funding amount is then multiplied by the number of students enrolled in would-be Santa Monica schools, creating a base year funding target. The target number is then compared to the unrestricted general fund revenues of a would-be Santa Monica Unified School District, and if the revenues are less than the funding target, Malibu would make up the difference through a base year property tax transfer.
Past the base year, the funding target for Santa Monica Unified would escalate by 4% this year. The target then would also be subtracted by district unrestricted revenues, with shortfalls to be made up by a transfer of Malibu property taxes. If Santa Monica revenue growths in funding levels exceed the target number, Malibu is exempt from providing a transfer for that year. The first potential cutoff of revenue sharing would be if no Malibu property tax transfer occurs for three consecutive years, or the 2041-42 fiscal year if a transfer does not happen that year.
The other two agreements were finalized over the past month, with the Operational Transfer Agreement detailing the allocation of staffing, operational processes and resources between Santa Monica Unified School District and Malibu Unified School District. The Joint Powers Agreement establishes a “shared entity responsible for overseeing and implementing the agreements governing the planned division of SMMUSD.”
Negotiations nearly broke down over the summer, as Christine Wood, an attorney representing the City of Malibu, requested the LACOE committee set a public hearing on its original 2017 petition for unification. Wood said that the request for the original petition to be heard was “about the lack of urgency that (SMMUSD) is placing on the process,” but the attorney revised the statement during an August LACOE hearing, stating the Malibu and SMMUSD sides made a “considerable amount of progress” on the agreements.
In a statement Thursday, Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart noted that he was grateful for the package finalization.
“This marks a crucial step forward for Malibu as we move closer to creating an independent school district that reflects the unique needs and values of our community,” Stewart said. “The Separation Package is a result of a collaborative effort aimed at ensuring both Malibu and Santa Monica students receive an exceptional education. I want to extend my gratitude to the members of the subcommittee, whose hard work and dedication have been essential to reaching this point.”
For more information about the separation package, visit smmusd.org/MalibuUnification.
