Save Malibu Teachers

Our son is due to start at "Malibu" elementary next year and this isn't what we want to see. You wonder why we want our own school district - this is it - broken promises and being given the least considoration.

If this is about money, maybe lay off the bloated SMMUSD personnel before you go after the people who actually do the work with the kids. It's always teachers that are the first to go. Ironic considering what a school district is supposed to be about.

I learned today about Ms. Tafi's involuntary reassignment and wanted to express my support for her: She is my second-grader's teacher. We arrived at the school mid-semester, enrolling at the start of January, and Ms. Tafi has been involved and present and has gone above and beyond in terms of helping my child acclimate to a new situation. I am so grateful to her, and truly believe that MES will be a lesser school without her. Please retain our valued educators; we need them now more than ever.

Thanks!

Keep our teachers!

With the Malibu community and schools still recovering from the Woolsey Fire, isn’t it short-sighted to have MES lose three beloved teachers? As a special ed assistant in many different classrooms for 14 years at all the Malibu schools and before that a volunteer parent helping with teaching, I saw how vital wonderful teachers and aides are to a student’s school experience. I also saw how traumatized high school students and even teachers were by the fire and loss of many of their homes. Imagine how much more traumatic it was for young children! Please give the MES community the support it needs to thrive and grow.

My daughter is a product of the Malibu school system and now a college freshman. It is deeply troubling to see promises made that are not being kept and the slow dismantling of the local school system in Malibu. Malibu has fought for independent schools for years and the District has consistently been reluctant to agree to it. Once again, the district holds all the power over Malibu and makes decisions for its schools with little understanding of the community impact. I urge the district to reconsider this badly timed and poorly thought out decision.

Do the right thing, Dr. Drati!

Give our teachers everything they need. They teach our children and set the foundations for our future!

I echo the comments of many others on class sizes and appropriate funding after the merger. Please please reconsider. One of my daughters is in Ms Hammack’s Kindergarten class and it would be very detrimental to the school to lose her!! She has been invaluable to my daughter’s growth and education!

Our families have put their trust in the district, Dr Drati and the board when the merger of the two schools was presented. We fought hard to ask the Malibu Community to vote yes on the Measure M. We suffered through a year without permanent admin leadership last year. And the Malibu Community is still recovering from the most devastating natural disaster to hit Southern California, the Woolsey Fire. As we sit here trying to cope with the threat of Covid-19 to our families, it is devastating to find out that we are losing 3 beloved teachers at our school and that class sizes will increase. What more can our children and families endure?! The one constant these students have had is the teachers at their school. Allow our school to keep the normalcy we are just getting started to create for them. These budget cuts are a short term fix that will cause irreversible distrust from the families that have fought to improve the reputation of the school district with Malibu. Our low enrollment in Malibu can be traced back to the previous missteps the district had taken in the past. We placed our trust in Dr Drati that he wanted to take us on a clear path of learning success for our students and would do right by Malibu. Rescind the pink slips sent to the teachers. Allow Malibu Elementary School to recover, and build a thriving educational environment our children and community deserve to have.

Promises made...now please keep them.

There is always more than one solution to a problem. This village needs some kindness!

Good teachers are invaluable to our community.

Our teachers are the most important constituent of the education system. Cut everything else first!

I endorse this petition fully. —Bob Perry (Retired MHS and Samohi teacher; 40 years in SMMUSD)

Ms Tafi is my son’s teacher and a credit to MES. She has been an incredible support to our family and many others after losing our homes in the fire. My 3 children were at Juan Cabrillo so she knows what us and many families have gone through and she has been more than a teacher to many of us - giving great support and kindness. We would be devastated to lose her.

Please keep your word. You told us one thing and we believed you. Now you have gone back on your word. You seem determined to hurt us. This is not what we expect from a leader.

I never have seen a more dedicated , caring , enthusiastic and even , in my view , heroic group of teachers . We must protect them and thus protect our children .