Malibu School Board Candidates Fall to Santa Monica Incumbents

The incumbents took an early lead and held onto it overnight over Malibu challengers in the race for three seats on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education.

The earliest results, based on absentee ballots, showed incumbents Ben Allen, Maria Leon-Vazquez and Jose Escarce in the lead. More results were not released until the early morning Wednesday, which confirmed the incumbents' victory.

Dense fog delayed reporting of the results on Tuesday night, according to county officials. Helicopters carrying ballots to be counted in Norwalk were grounded late Tuesday at the Puente Hills Mall in the City of Industry.

With so few ballots counted, candidates were hesitant to speak out on the early results.

“I hope that my returns stay the way they are,” Allen said just before 10 p.m. Tuesday. “And I hope the Prop. 30 returns get better. Honestly I think it [not passing] will make life on the school board very difficult.”

Malibu candidates Craig Foster, Karen Farrer and Seth Jacobson trailed behind, but on Tuesday night Foster was only 100 votes away from Escarce, who called the race "unpredictable" after the first round of results came out.

"I’m only going to wait and see what happens," Escarce said. "... It will go one way or the other."

Foster remained optimistic on Tuesday night.

"I am happy that with so few votes in, it is pretty close," Foster said. "We hope as more ballots are counted we gain ground."

Farrer said Tuesday night she hoped to learn more when additional results come out.

"I have a feeling that what the preliminary results look like are similar to the final," Farrer said.

Those preliminary results did turn out to be a mirror of the final results with the incumbents gaining ground as the results trickled in.

Measure ES, a $385 million bond measure that will go toward facility and technology improvements, won handily with 67.7 percent of the vote. It needed 55 percent approval to pass.

Before the final resulsts were in, Allen said he was encouraged by the vote.

"I'm just happy it is looking this strong at this stage," he said.

SANTA MONICA-MALIBU BOARD OF EDUCATION & MEASURE ES RESULTS

ORIGINAL POST: Malibu voters will head to the polls Tuesday to decide who will fill three seats on the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education.

Three Malibu challengers, Craig Foster, Karen Farrer and Seth Jacobson, are hoping to unseat incumbents Ben Allen, Jose Escarce and Maria Leon-Vazquez.

All three Malibu candidates, which are running on a reform slate, have said they will task the superintendent with increasing student achievement in schools across the district, reduce class sizes and close the achievement gap between different demographic groups. They have said they will pay for their ideas by reducing the administrative bureaucracy and creating an independent Malibu School District.

Allen has said he will set high academic expectations and standards, look to preserve programs that are at the core of the district such as art and athletics and address the needs of both Malibu and Santa Monica.

Leon-Vazquez has said she will work to create a culture of inclusion and trust among all families, modernize school facilities, increase revenue through district-wide fundraising and close the achievement gap.

Escarce has said he will seek to preserve programs while balancing the budget, promote teachers' professional development and strengthen intervention programs.

Voters will also decide whether to approve a $385 million bond measure that will go toward facility and technology improvements. The measure needs 55 percent of voter support to pass.

If Measure ES passes, 20 percent of the funds are already slated to go toward Malibu schools.

Measure ES is meant to provide a portion of more than $1 billion of needed improvements at schools in Santa Monica and Malibu, according to assessments by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. 

Projects for Measure ES funding will be selected through a district-wide facility assessment and draft Master Plan, according to SMMUSD Superintendent Sandra Lyon.

"Passage of these three measures will ensure the resources that our local schools need," Lyon said in a letter to the community on Oct. 11.

In Malibu, about $70 million is needed to upgrade science labs, parts of the auditorium, an expanded outdoor eating and lunch shelters, gym and locker room upgrades, and mechanical infrastructure upgrades at Malibu High School.

Nearly $500 million is needed for improvements at Santa Monica High School.

At elementary schools across the district about $93 million is needed to replace temporary classrooms with permanent ones.