Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Separation Expected By 2026

MALIBU, CA – Officials have completed the "heaviest piece of work" in creating an independent Malibu school district, but are urging patience as the separation of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is now expected to be completed by fall 2026.

Recent negotiations between the city of Malibu and SMMUSD have spawned a near-finalization of the revenue-sharing agreement that creates a formula and methodology for how the separation will occur financially, Deputy City Attorney Christine Wood told the City Council at a recent meeting.

Wood said the council should expect to vote on that formula in the "very near future."

While that part of the negotiations represented what Wood described as the "heaviest piece of work," there's still several other matters to be ironed, such as dividing district assets and determining which services a future Malibu school district will need from Santa Monica, Wood said.

The negotiations are guided by a framework that both sides agreed to in November 2022. At that time, officials said they could submit their proposal to the county by May. It would then go on to the California Board of Education and reach voters’ ballots in March 2024 and be finalized later that year.

But Wood now says that timeline is "ambitious," and the matter is likely to be completely wrapped up by fall 2026.

"There's not a format, there's not a plan for how this happens, we don't have anyone's shoes to walk in," she said. "This has never happened to two basic aid districts in LA County."