School District Silent on College's Controversial Proposal

By Teresa Rochester

Poised to become the $12.6-million-a-year beneficiaries of an explosive proposal crafted by Santa Monica College, school district officials have remained unusually mum.

Unlike city officials - who quickly and publicly expressed outrage at a proposal that would take $18 million annually for education from their budget --, school board officials have yet to make their position, if they have a one, public.

At Thursday night's school board meeting, Supt. Neil Schmidt briefly brought up the proposal during his report, saying it had received "a lot of discussion in the media."

"I know there's a lot of controversy surrounding this," Schmidt said.

The superintendent then suggested that the board could ask the college to address the board on the proposal "and see if there are common interests.

"There seems to be mutual interest, and we need to find the common ground and move forward in a collaborative way," Schmidt said. He added that there was "substance behind some of the ideas" that should be jointly explored.

Board member Margaret Quinones, however, said the board found itself "in the middle" (between the College and the City), and that any meetings on the proposal should include city officials.

"We have a history of being collaborative," Quinones said. "We can't afford to hear just one part of it."

College officials have privately said that their proposal puts the cash-strapped school district in an awkward position. The district receives more than $2.5 million annually from the city and this year was the beneficiary of a $2.1 million bailout grant following an anticipated $4 million to $5 million budget shortfall.

The proposal -- which also calls for $4.5 million for the college, $900,000 for early childhood education and the city's help in acquiring land and building new educational facilities - was first publicly discussed last Monday night by the College Board of Trustees, which unanimously voted to disseminate the plan.

As city officials and council members waged rhetorical battle, a few school board members sat silently through proceedings thinly veiled with tension.

Some board members seemed genuinely surprised to learn about the proposal, which was first made pubic in a 22-page document four days before the May 1 trustee's meeting. Others said they had heard rumors during spring break about the plan, which was hatched in secrecy during months of closed session meetings between college officials and their hired attorneys.

"I did know some of the things," Quinones said after attending the trustees meeting. A counselor at the college, Quinones said she first heard about the proposal a week or two before it went public.

"The bottom line is you can't find a better fight. It's a good, healthy fight because it's about schools, it's about kids," said Quinones. "As a member of the board you have to think about how this is going to affect the greater community."

Board member Brenda Gottfried said she too had heard rumors of the proposal, but Tom Pratt, the board's vice president, was stunned by the news.

"Wow. I think that all three agencies need to get together and discuss this," Pratt said shortly after the Board of Trustees' vote. "I didn't know about it. I wasn't informed at all."

In addition to the $18 million a year in city funding, the college's proposal also calls for the creation of a Santa Monica Education Authority, made up of representatives from the college, city and school district. The group's powers would be created by the authority, and its mission could include writing grants for the schools and early childhood development.

The proposal also calls for city earthquake redevelopment money to renovate and rebuild earthquake-battered college buildings, including a parking structure and an off-site theater. It also calls for help from the city in acquiring land for athletic fields at the airport and for a job-training center along the Olympic Boulevard industrial corridor.

Lookout staff contributed to this report