Efforts to separate Malibu schools from Santa Monica are both on and off, once again, after the city of Malibu announced it is moving forward with a new effort to split the district without reach negotiated terms with Santa Monica officials. .

The city of Malibu announced Friday that it would move forward with its initial 2017 school separation petition to create an independent Malibu Unified School District, just weeks after the city and subcommittee of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) have reached an agreement. on a completed unification package.

Unanimously approved by the Malibu City Council, Malibu will submit an independent feasibility study to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization, supplementing its initial petition. The city says the update “does not rescind” the initial petition, but “builds on the financial and operational assumptions that made separation feasible” under the terms previously agreed to with SMMUSD.

City officials said the decision was prompted by the SMMUSD school board’s failure to approve the finalized separation agreement within the district’s deadline. The board first held a point of discussion on all of the proposals at its October 24 meeting, expressing the need for further discussions before a vote could be taken.

“Malibu worked in good faith to reach an agreement with SMMUSD that would create a fair and equitable separation for both communities,” said Malibu Mayor Doug Stewart. “However, due to the Board’s failure to meet agreed-upon deadlines, Malibu will now continue the process independently.”

Separating a school district is a complicated process, but can be done by decree of county education officials. However, Malibu and SMMUSD negotiated a split on how funding and resources would be distributed.

In discussions about revenue sharing earlier this year, SMMUSD legal counsel David Soldani said the agreement was the result of “hundreds of hours” of publicized negotiations between Malibu and the district, and that “ As is the case with all negotiated agreements, there is some give and take.

Malibu officials said that in a collaborative effort with the district, Malibu offered concessions to ensure a smooth process once both sides agreed on key financial aspects.

Today, Malibu said its alternative feasibility incorporates much of the financial and operational groundwork developed over the past several years, adhering to the guiding principles that (1) the formation of an independent Malibu Unified School District is in the best interest of all students; And (2) Malibu USD and Santa Monica USD will receive sufficient funding to provide a similar level of service as existed prior to separation.

Negotiations nearly collapsed over the summer, when Christine Wood, an attorney representing the city of Malibu, asked the LACOE committee to hold a public hearing on its initial petition. Wood said the request to hear the original petition was about “the lack of urgency (SMMUSD) is giving to the process.” However, at a LACOE meeting in August, Wood revised the statement, telling the committee that both sides had made “considerable progress” on the agreements.

The two sides released a joint statement in September announcing that their respective subcommittees had agreed on a proposed school separation package. The package included three key elements: the revenue sharing agreement, an operational transfer agreement and a joint powers agreement.

Malibu officials added that the formation of an independent Malibu USD would reprioritize the educational needs of Malibu students, reflect the unique needs and values ​​of the community, and give Malibu residents local control over decisions regarding of education.

The County Committee will consider the city’s petition at two upcoming public hearings, the first of which will take place in the SMMUSD District Office Board Room on Friday, November 8. The following week, on November 13, Malibu High School will hold a hearing. Both will take place from 6 p.m.

SMMUSD officials said they were unable to comment on developments at the time of publication and would issue a statement on the matter Monday.

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