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Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, California, elections

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Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
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District details
School board members: 7
Students: 8,641 (2023-2024)
Schools: 17 (2023-2024)
Website: Link

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is a school district in California (Los Angeles County). During the 2024 school year, 8,641 students attended one of the district's 17 schools.

This page provides information regarding school board members, election rules, finances, academics, policies, and more details about the district.

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Elections School board Location Budget Academic performance Students Staff Schools

Elections

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Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large

General election

General election for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large (3 seats)

Christine Falaguerra, Jon Kean, Maria Leon-Vazquez, and Jennifer Smith ran in the general election for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large on November 5, 2024.

Candidate
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Christine Falaguerra (Nonpartisan)
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Jon Kean (Nonpartisan)
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Maria Leon-Vazquez (Nonpartisan)
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Jennifer Smith (Nonpartisan)

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Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large

General election

General election for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large

Incumbent Jon Kean, incumbent Maria Leon-Vazquez, and incumbent Ralph Mechur won election in the general election for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large on November 8, 2016.

Candidate
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Jon Kean (Nonpartisan)
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Maria Leon-Vazquez (Nonpartisan)
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Ralph Mechur (Nonpartisan)

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Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large

General election

General election for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large

Incumbent Craig Foster, incumbent Laurie Lieberman, incumbent Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein, and incumbent Oscar de la Torre won election in the general election for Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District school board At-large on November 4, 2014.

Candidate
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Craig Foster (Nonpartisan)
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Laurie Lieberman (Nonpartisan)
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Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein (Nonpartisan)
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Oscar de la Torre (Nonpartisan)

Incumbents are bolded and underlined.

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About the district

School board

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District consists of seven members serving four-year terms. To find information about school board meetings, click here.

List of school board members
NameYear assumed officeYear term ends
Jon Kean
Maria Leon-Vazquez
Laurie Lieberman
Alicia Mignano
Stacy Rouse
Jennifer Smith
Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein

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District map

School district map

Overlapping state house districts

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District
Office NameCurrent OfficeholderParty% School District Covered% Other District Covered
California State Assembly District 42Jacqui IrwinDemocratic Party 91% 24%
California State Assembly District 51Rick Chavez ZburDemocratic Party 9% 25%

The table was limited to the lower chamber because it provides the most granularity. State house districts tend to be more numerous and therefore smaller than state senate or U.S. House districts. This provides an impression of the partisan affiliations in the area.

Budget

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[1]

Revenue, 2021-2022
SOURCE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Federal: $18,155,000 $1,989 6%
Local: $264,223,000 $28,943 86%
State: $26,713,000 $2,926 9%
Total: $309,091,000 $33,858
Expenditures, 2021-2022
TYPE AMOUNT AMOUNT PER STUDENT PERCENT
Total Expenditures: $318,547,000 $34,893
Total Current Expenditures: $179,963,000 $19,713
Instructional Expenditures: $102,934,000 $11,275 32%
Student and Staff Support: $22,693,000 $2,485 7%
Administration: $25,941,000 $2,841 8%
Operations, Food Service, Other: $28,395,000 $3,110 9%
Total Capital Outlay: $98,137,000 $10,750
Construction: $98,010,000 $10,736
Total Non El-Sec Education & Other: $9,155,000 $1,002
Interest on Debt: $31,229,000 $3,420

Academic performance

Each year, state and local education agencies use tests and other standards to assess student proficiency. Although the data below was published by the U.S. Department of Education, proficiency measurements are established by the states. As a result, proficiency levels are not comparable between different states and year-over-year proficiency levels within a district may not be comparable because states may change their proficiency measurements. To protect student privacy, percentages are reported as ranges for groups of 300 students or fewer. If five or fewer students were included in a data set, the data will display as "PS."[2]

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 40-44 PS <50 21-39 <50 55-59
2018-2019 61 77 37 40 <50 76 72
2017-2018 61 80 35 40 <50 74 72
2016-2017 61 82 35 40 >=50 72 74
2015-2016 60 78 32 38 60-79 69 73
2014-2015 57 74 30 34 40-59 70-74 70
2013-2014 70 85-89 40-44 55-59 PS 80-89 80
2012-2013 71 90 45 54 >=50 82 81
2011-2012 71 90 46 54 40-59 80 80
2010-2011 70 88 44 53 >=50 79 81

The following table shows the percentage of district students who scored at or above the proficiency level each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2020-2021 65-69 PS <50 40-59 <50 75-79
2018-2019 74 82 55 58 >=50 84 84
2017-2018 74 85 54 57 >=50 85 84
2016-2017 74 88 53 56 >=50 86 83
2015-2016 70 84 48 52 60-79 77 82
2014-2015 68 82 44 49 >=50 80-84 80
2013-2014 73 75-79 50-54 55-59 PS 80-89 86
2012-2013 76 87 52 58 >=50 85 87
2011-2012 75 86 55 57 60-79 86 85
2010-2011 76 85 56 61 >=50 83 86

The following table shows the graduation rate of district students each school year:

School year All (%) Asian/Pacific Islander (%) Black (%) Hispanic (%) Native American (%) Two or More Races (%) White (%)
2019-2020 94 >=90 >=90 90-94 90-94 95
2018-2019 94 >=95 90-94 90-94 PS >=95 94
2017-2018 91 >=90 85-89 90-94 90-94 90
2016-2017 92 90-94 90-94 90-94 PS 85-89 92
2015-2016 91 90-94 90-94 84 PS >=90 95
2014-2015 92 >=95 85-89 85-89 >=90 95
2013-2014 92 >=95 >=90 90-94 PS >=90 92
2012-2013 93 >=95 90-94 90 PS >=90 95
2011-2012 91 >=95 85-89 88 PS >=95 93
2010-2011 88 >=90 90-94 85 PS 80-89 89

Students

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[3]

Year Enrollment Year-to-year change (%)
2023-2024 8,641 -2.1
2022-2023 8,820 -3.5
2021-2022 9,129 -8.8
2020-2021 9,929 -4.2
2019-2020 10,350 -2.7
2018-2019 10,625 -1.7
2017-2018 10,806 -1.8
2016-2017 11,005 -2.2
2015-2016 11,249 -0.4
2014-2015 11,289 -0.5
2013-2014 11,341 -0.7
2012-2013 11,417 -0.4
2011-2012 11,468 -0.8
2010-2011 11,562 -1.4
2009-2010 11,723 1.1
2008-2009 11,591 -0.8
2007-2008 11,688 -1.9
2006-2007 11,911 -2.4
2005-2006 12,191 -2.9
2004-2005 12,545 -2.4
2003-2004 12,842 0.4
2002-2003 12,789 0.6
2001-2002 12,708 1.2
2000-2001 12,553 3.3
1999-2000 12,143 0.0
Racial Demographics, 2023-2024
RACE Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (%) California K-12 STUDENTS (%)
American Indian/Alaska Native 0.2 0.4
Asian or Asian/Pacific Islander 7.9 12.1
Black 6.6 4.9
Hispanic 30.0 56.1
Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander 0.1 0.4
Two or More Races 7.2 5.8
White 47.7 20.2

Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.

Staff

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[4]

As of the 2023-2024 school year, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District had 452.27 full-time classroom teachers. The student-teacher ratio was 19.11.

Teachers, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF TEACHERS
Prekindergarten: 0.00
Kindergarten: 37.64
Elementary: 248.33
Secondary: 166.30
Total: 452.27

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District employed 9.00 district administrators and 27.50 school administrators as of the 2023-2024 school year.

Administrators, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF ADMINISTRATORS
District Administrators: 9.00
District Administrative Support: 21.00
School Administrators: 27.50
School Administrative Support: 48.00
Other staff, 2023-2024 school year
TYPE NUMBER OF OTHER STAFF
Instructional Aides: 224.64
Instruc. Coordinators & Supervisors: 11.60
Total Guidance Counselors: 24.00
Elementary Guidance Counselors: 6.00
Secondary Guidance Counselors: 17.00
Librarians/Media Specialists: 1.00
Library/Media Support: 0.00
Student Support Services: 38.72
Other Support Services: 274.53

Schools

The following statistics were published by the National Center for Education Statistics, which is a part of the U.S. Department of Education.[5]

The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District operates 17 schools. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
List of schools
SCHOOL NAMENUMBER OF STUDENTSGRADES
Edison Elementary395KG-5
Franklin Elementary612KG-5
Grant Elementary570KG-5
John Adams Middle8086-8
John Muir Elementary0KG-5
Lincoln Middle8846-8
Malibu Elementary191KG-5
Malibu High3909-12
Malibu Middle2476-8
Mckinley Elementary393KG-5
Olympic High (Continuation)329-12
Roosevelt Elementary588KG-5
Santa Monica Alternative (K-8)219KG-8
Santa Monica High2,5739-12
Santa Monica-Malibu Preschool0
Webster Elementary205KG-5
Will Rogers Elementary523KG-5


About school boards

Education legislation in California

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See also

School Boards Education Policy Local Politics California
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External links

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    • Footnotes

    1. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    2. ↑ U.S. Department of Education, Washington, DC: EDFacts, "State Assessments in Reading/Language Arts and Mathematics- School Year 2018-19 EDFacts Data Documentation," accessed February 25, 2021
    3. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    4. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
    5. ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "Elementary/Secondary Information System," accessed October 6, 2025
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