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1. How can the community help the effort to form a locally controlled Malibu Unified School District?

Residents may forward letters to the City describing any interaction, unfilled curricular needs, and experiences as a Malibu resident of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD). An online survey is available to easily submit these testimonials.

2. Will a new Malibu District require increased funding and/or will taxes go up?

No, the new district will be funded on its pro-rata share of property taxes and minimum State aid according to already established formulas.

3. Why did the City of Malibu stop negotiations with SMMUSD?

The Malibu City Council approved the effort to establish a locally controlled school district in 2015.  Committees were formed, reports and recommendations submitted, but all were rejected by the SMMUSD Board of Education. Negotiations between the City and the school district began in 2018. Many financial/revenue proposals were submitted and rejected. The main sticking point was a permanent redistribution of Malibu property taxes to the new Santa Monica School District.

4. Will enrollment in the new Malibu Unified School District be too low for it to exist?

With local control, it is expected that enrollment will rise in the newly formed Malibu Unified School District (MUSD). In other California school districts that reorganized, students who were in private schools and/or home schooled enrolled in the newly formed district. It is forecasted that the newly formed district will be a Basic Aid district, or a district that is primarily funded on local property taxes; therefore, it will be less of a burden to the State of California. Because of that, the number of enrolled students will not financially hurt the State/District, making a smaller enrolled student population a non-issue.

5. Will Santa Monica and Malibu vote to decide if there will be a Malibu Unified School District?

Approvals by the Los Angeles County Committee on Reorganization and the California State Board of Education are needed first. In other petitions reviewed throughout the state, traditionally only the affected area was chosen as the voter area. We cannot be sure what the voter area will be until it is decided by the State Board of Education.

6. Once established, will the two new districts have unequal per pupil funding?

Yes, California school districts are funded based upon the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), and no two school districts are the same – many factors go into the formula to determine the funding rate. The great thing is that both new districts will receive funding ABOVE the calculated LCFF amount, making them two of the few school districts in the state to enjoy that level of funding. Once the Districts split, each will have different rates of growth in revenue based upon the assessed valuation growth rate in the property taxes. Malibu and Santa Monica will certainly grow at different rates, thus the differences in the per pupil funding.

7. Should we freeze the unification process at this time due to the pandemic?

The path to unification is a long, winding road. In Los Angeles County, no two petitions are the same. In a best case scenario, it will take several years for the process to conclude, Therefore, it is unlikely that the pandemic will be an issue. 

8. What will happen to the current employees in the new Malibu Unified School District?

California law dictates that all employees at the existing school of the newly formed district will have the same employment rights, salaries and seniority as they had in the former District.