In Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), one of the top-ranked districts in California, our high-achieving schools make Santa Monica and Malibu desirable communities to raise a family, which improve the quality of life and protect our property values. Although some local schools and classrooms have been modernized, many others have not, and there is more to do to support 21st-century learning and improve safety in our neighborhood schools.

School Repairs and Upgrades Needed to Meet 21st-Century Education Standards

We still have many old schools, including our local high schools - some neighborhood schools are 70 years old. Facilities assessments have found older schools need repairs and upgrades to meet current academic and safety standards, as well as accommodate today's technology and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) instructional strategies.

Locally-Controlled Funding to Maintain High Quality Schools

In order to address these needs and provide maximum local control to Malibu and Santa Monica in determining the use of each community's funds, the Board created two School Facility Improvement Districts ("SFIDs") and placed separate bond measures before voters in Santa Monica (Measure SMS) and Malibu (Measure M). Both measures were approved by voters in November, 2018. The formation of SFIDs will dedicate funds raised by the bond measures to schools within each respective community.

With passage of these local bonds, school improvement plans and projects are well underway to ensure high-quality learning environments for all students. Passage of local bonds also help meet the District's urgent need to repair and upgrade our older schools and are being used to:

• Add and modernize science labs and build classrooms for teaching career and technical skills to help students succeed in 21st-century jobs
• Improve and upgrade classrooms to support instruction in math, science and technology, and improve arts and music education 21st Century Schools
• Fix leaky roofs in older schools that are causing power outages and replace and repair aging school restrooms and plumbing, where needed
• Replace old, deteriorated portable classrooms with safe, modern classrooms
• Remove hazardous materials from local schools; Repair and replace deteriorating school floors, walls, windows and roofs
• Improve student safety and campus security systems
  
  

Strict Fiscal Accountability Provisions:

• All funds would be used for local schools in our community and by law, cannot be taken by the State
• Citizens' oversight committee and annual audits are require
  
  

For more detailed information on specific projects, read our Schools Funding Update Spring 2019 reports to the community:

Santa Monica: www.smmusd.org/21stcenturyschools/TBWB-SMSpringReport.pdf
Malibu: www.smmusd.org/21stcenturyschools/TBWB-MalibuSpringReport.pdf

We welcome your feedback on our work to create classrooms and facilities that support student success in SMMUSD.