Mayor Asks School District to Expand Communications Following Bomb Threat

Malibu Mayor Laura Zahn Rosenthal asked the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board on Thursday to consider using online media tools to communicate with the public during emergencies.

Rosenthal made the comments on the same day and two other nearby schools were placed on lockdown because of a bomb threat. ()

"I did want to commend the district, because they worked really well getting the information to the city," Rosenthal said, adding that the city put out the information on Twitter and Facebook.

She also encouraged the board to consider setting up a Nixle account, which notifies the public of emergencies. Rosenthal said the city uses Nixle to send out information about traffic updates, sheriff's activity and fires.

"I would really encourage the district to look at joining Nixle," Rosenthal said.

SMMUSD Board member Ben Allen agreed and asked staff to look into using Nixle and bring it to the board during a summer meeting.

Allen added later in the meeting that whoever made the call will be held accountable.

"This is not a joke. A lot of time, energy, resources time and money were spent. We take these calls very seriously. Whoever did this really caused a great deal of cost and disruption to our district and our community," Allen said.