Malibu Rep. Item Removed from Ed. Board Agenda

will not be the site of a verbal battle scene tonight as it appeared would be the case. The controversial agenda item for the Board of Education meeting on creating a Malibu advisory position on the board has been removed at the request of Advocates for Malibu Public Schools.

AMPS had made the request for the item to go on the agenda. A staff report released Friday included the opinion of Sandra Lyon, superintendent for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, and likely violated district policy. This opinion was not well-received in Malibu.

Craig Foster, a member of the AMPS executive board, wrote in an email to Patch on Wednesday night, "The Malibu representation discussion was pulled from the board meeting at the request of AMPS leadership. It makes more sense to have the discussion of representation after the forthcoming discussion of cooperatively investigating separation."

The sentiment in favor of forming a Malibu school district has picked up steam in recent months. The in November endorsed a plan for two of its members, Mayor Laura Rosenthal and Mayor Pro Tem Lou La Monte, to work with local activists and officials from the city of Santa Monica and the SMMUSD on a petition requesting the county do a Malibu school district feasibility study.