Malibu : School Board Seeks Funds

Should Malibu become a city, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is ready to ask it for money.

The school board on Monday approved a policy calling for Malibu, if it votes next month to incorporate, to provide financial help to the struggling school district. The schools, the board’s resolution said, are “an investment in people which is essential to the city’s economic future (and to) the achievement of social justice.” It is in the city’s “vital interest . . . to have an excellent public school system,” the policy states.

Malibu voters will decide June 5 whether to incorporate and will also elect a five-member City Council. School board members Monday said they planned to solicit support for the board’s policy from the 31 City Council candidates.

The school district last week approved the same policy statement for the city of Santa Monica and appealed to the City Council for $3.1 million to maintain programs and staff for the coming school year. The district also asked for a long-term funding commitment from the city.

In the past, Santa Monica has given the district $500,000 a year. The district’s General Fund budget for the 1990-91 school year is estimated to be $35 million, with a projected deficit of up to $2 million.