Santa Monica-Malibu Unified Divorce One Step Closer, Enough Signatures Gathered

MALIBU, CA - Malibu residents are now closer than they've ever been to uncouple their schools from the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, it was reported Friday.

Having spent years aspiring to the secession, they have gathered the required signatures to petition for a split and persuaded the school district to appoint a committee that would negotiate a breakup, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But as representatives for both cities met this week to iron out logistics for such negotiations, it became clear that uncoupling the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District could prompt the kind of high-priced, hyper-detailed legal wrangling that marks any stormy, high-profile divorce, according to The Times.

MORE COVERAGE:

• SMMUSD: No Malibu Help on Separation Analysis

The district's most recent projections show that Santa Monica students would be the financial losers under such a separation. It would receive about $9,500 per student, which is less than it would get if the district remained whole, the newspaper reported.

Malibu, which has three elementary schools and a high school, would get nearly $14,000 per student by 2017-18, district estimates show.

School Board President Laurie Lieberman said both sides want to reach an agreement that would allow Malibu to split off, but it can't come at the expense of Santa Monica children, according to The Times.

Malibu, the richer of the two cities, turns 25 this month.

--City News Service, photo courtesy of SMMUSD