Sunday, March 14, 2010

90403-90404 sales Sep-Feb

Third up are single-family house sales closed from September 2009 through February 2010 in 90403 (Montana-Wilshire) and 90404 (Wilshire-Pico), including three of our five Stewart Park listings from last November.

Also, note that due to spam comments to old posts I've started moderating comments to posts over 14 days old.

Address, bed/bath, current price (-% from orig.), orig.list date, sale date, sale price (-% from last list price)

90403

1130 Idaho, 1/1, $769K, 10/30/09, 12/11/09, $805K ( +5%)
610 California, 2/1, $999K, 3/20/09, 12/3/09, $580K (-42%)
825 26th, 3/2, $1,199K, 7/14/09, 9/8/09, $1,245K (+4%)
1027 Chelsea, 4/3, $1,449K, 9/21/09, 11/12/09, $1,600K (+10%)
1015 24th, 4/3, $1,599K, 10/22/09, 12/23/09, $1,558K (-3%)
1066 Yale, 5/2.75, $1,795K (-25%), 9/22/08, 9/25/09, $1,600K (-11%)
2222 Washington, 4/3, $2,395K (-8%), 6/4/09, 10/13/09, $2,236K (-7%)
1122 Stanford, 6/7.5, $3,395K (-5%), 8/28/09, 1/5/10, $2,875K (-15%)
1335 Palisades Beach, 5/4.5, $5,795K (-9%), 5/12/08, 9/17/09, $5,500K (-5%)

90404

3218 Arizona, 1/1, $439K (-33%), 6/20/08, 11/25/09, $438K
1617 Berkeley, 2/1, $685K, 12/2/09, 2/17/10, $665K (-3%)
3208 Urban, 2/1, $769K (-7%), 8/5/09, 1/8/10, $720K (-6%)
1244 14th, 2/1, $775K, 9/2/09, 10/16/09, $790K (+2%)
2944 Exposition, 2/1.5, $849K, 10/2/09, 11/24/09, $815K (-4%)
3064 Delaware (photo), 3/1.5, $850K (-2%), 11/21/09, 2/22/10, $795K (-6%)
1437 24th, 3/2, $899K, 10/22/09, 12/2/09, $775K (-14%)
3020 Delaware, 3/2, $949K (-3%), 8/6/09, 2/4/10, $930K (-2%)


54 comments:

Anonymous said...

I was wondering if anyone thinks the new district policy of recalling all LAUSD students back from SMMUSD is going to effect the RE market.

According to the SMDP, all 1,200 current SMMUSD students now on permits would have to go back to their home schools in the LAUSD in September.

NO WAY anyone wants to go back to Mar Vista or Venice once they are in the SM school system.

Do you think we will see a big bump in sales?

____________

Can anyone give me more details on the above ? Is it true that 1200 kids who don't live in SM are today in the SM schools?

Anyone know how many of those 1200 kids are today in the Franklin School?

I would assume that this is good news for all the struggling private schools - at least some of these kids will probably go to private school now

What is the impact on real estate

Anonymous said...

1200 kids that live in crummy LAUSD districts have escaped the LAUSD schools by coming to SM

Anonymous said...

Parents will have to make some tough decisions now.

1.Buy or rent in SM

2. Get a job in SM or...

3.get back to your crappy LAUSD school by September.

Gotta affect RE activity somehow....1200 families are NOT going back to crappy schools.

Anonymous said...

There are about 40 students at our school that are released from LAUSD and we have one of the smallest schools in SMMUSD. You also need to consider there are also families that live in SMMUSD, but permit into the Palisades Charter Complex. There is a meeting on Wednesday to discuss the appeals process and filing for permits/releases.

Anonymous said...

Help me understand

Next year, how hard will it be to get LAUSD to allow me to put my kids in to SM schools?

I mean, I know plenty of people that own law firms and accounting firms in Santa Monica.

If I am a stay at home mom right now, and I get one of these people to give me a part time minimum wage job as a receptionist in their firms, a job where I work ten hours a week, can I then show proof of this job to the LA Unified school district and get permission to put my kids in to the Franklin School?

I mean, what are the requirements? How easy is it?

Everyone on this blog knows that I can buy a nice house in LAUSD for one million dollars less than that house in Franklin. So can I truly save a million dollars by buying in LAUSD and taking a minimum wage job in Santa Monica?

I would like more discussion of this, I would like this clarified.

Anonymous said...

1335 Palisades Beach
did I read the table correctly, did this house close escrow, did the cash change hands? If so it is pretty impressive to see something change hands at 5.5 million. That area is not so nice, lots of vagrants and stoners hang around that house

Clarify

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:18

I would strongly suggest you go to the meeting tomorrow nite at JAMS middle school in SM to find out if a part time job in SM would qualify you to submit for a permit to go to school in SMMUSD.

Lots of information will be there for you.

Also, small school ANON 10:57, what are some of the things that your parents are considering to stay in the district???

Anonymous said...

I can't attend the meeting.

I just want to say that I respect very much the right of the people who live in Santa Monica to decide who gets to go to their schools.

If someone buys a house in a district and wants no one from outside the district allowed in that is fine with me.

I am not trying to persuade anyone to let LAUSD kids in.

I am simply asking if I want to carefully follow the rules, and the rules say that anyone with a job in Santa Monica can get their kids in to santa monica schools, what does that mean. part time or full time? Only professional jobs? Or minimum wage jobs?

Let's not have the usual status obsessed snobby nonsense. Let's discuss this like polite respectful grown ups

Anonymous said...

I am not trying to argue with any one, but I just want to clarify this.

Let's say I know a mom. She has twins. the twins are 4 years old. She lives in LAUSD. She had been planning to send the twins to private K starting in September. The bill for private K is $40k for the twins. She is a stay at home mom. Her husband's income puts them in the 50% marginal bracket. The twins have an above average IQ, are going to be hard working non disruptive students.

Her husband has to earn an extra incremental $80k per year in order to net $40k and pay for private school - do you understand the fact pattern so far?

Ok - now assume that she gets a part time minimum wage job, working ten hours a week at a store near the pier. Her income from this job is essentially nothing. But because she works at the store by the pier, both kids get welcomed in to the Santa Monica schools from k through 12. If you add up the savings for her and her husband, there are two ways of looking at it. On the one hand, tuition was $40k tims 12 or $480 thousand. So her job at the store lets them save an extra $480 thousand bucks and perhaps retire a few years early.

On the other hand, her husband can just work a little less, enjoy more time with his family hanging out at the beach, going hiking, BBQ, all the things families do when daddy doesn't have to work all the time. if he doesn't have to earn that extra $80k a year, he gets more family time and less time stressed out at work.

Either way, mom's small number of hours worked at the store near the pier makes a great difference in her family's happiness and financial security.

Again, I don't want the snobs and braggarts that sometimes post here to comment - I am looking for real moms, with real life concerns to comment.

Are the facts as I presented them above accurate today? Are they accurate in terms of the rules that pertain next year ?

Does mom getting a modest minimum wage job truly now and in the future open the doors to SM schools and save the hubby from having to earn $80k x 12 years ???

Anonymous said...

Again, I have no idea about the minimum wage/part time work thing....if thats enough to qualify to get a permit for your kids to get into SMMUSD schools.

That is up to the LAUSD and SMMUSD to determine who gets in and who doesn't.

I will say, from a budgetary standpoint, SMMUSD WANTS to keep the permit kids in school, they get 5-7 million a year for doing so.

New permits will be within the new harsher rules dictated by LAUSD I suspect. They too, are in a major budget crunch and want those kids back earning them money for their cash strapped district.

Anonymous said...

OK just to be clear - if I live in LAUSD and I have kids that are well behaved and docile, and I get a job in SM, the SM school board will be eager - very very very eager to have my kids go to school at Franklin -

But the LAUSD may refuse to allow my kids to go to Franklin, because LAUSD wants the money.

I think I got it. The key issue is me persuading LAUSD to give me permission, I don't have to work to persuade the Santa Monica Admin

thanks

Anonymous said...

This line of discussion is very interesting to me. A good friend of mine joined the board of Harvard Westlake. What he tells me is that even with this terrible recession there are many many more applicants to Harvard Westlake than there are slots. As a member of the board he has the ability to get one or two kids in a year. Kids that otherwise would not have made the cut will get in to Harvard Westlake on his say so.

Now let's not exaggerate here. He can't get in kids who have low IQ, or kids who come to school stoned all the time. But on the margin he can get kids in. People in his social circle know this, and his status in his social circle is way up - people just treat him much better now than he was treated before joining this board - he has the power to deliver something that lots of people want.

Anyway, My question is, do the school board members in Los Angeles have the same sort of power? If someone works in Santa Monica, and wants to get their kids in to to the Franklin school, does a friendship with a school board member in LAUSD help them get LAUSD to give the kid written permission to not go to school in LAUSD and to instead go to franklin?

Today, how do you get the LAUSD to allow your kid in to Franklin? Is it better to befriend an LAUSD school board member, or is it better to threaten to sue, or should you donate money to the mayor's campaign war chest so that the mayor's office jumps in and tells the school board to let you go to Franklin ?

Again, I am an innocent non politically connected person and I really need to understand this better. I need to better understand how things work here in the LA metroplex. Seems like everyone else knows the way to use connections and I don't so help me out tell me how things work

Anonymous said...

So you all assume that Measure A will pass and that Santa Monica residents will not allow their schools to become as bad and overcrowded as the LAUSD schools? Funny, I rent and send my kids to Franklin, and since the latest cuts were announced (including pink slips for 10 Franklin teachers), I have been wondering whether SM schools will now go to pieces and whether it will then make more sense to buy a house that is not in this crazy micro-market.

Anonymous said...

Anon, by all means buy somewhere other than Santa Monica. Plenty of nice homes all over LA.

Santa Monica is too crowded as it is.

Unknown said...

Hopefully Measure A will pass. It is a win win tax. If you have children in the system, you win. If you value education, you win. If you value equity in your home, you win...if SM schools suffer and lose ratings, house prices go down because of less of demand. For a mere $16.50 a month, your inflated house value stays nice and plump...seems like a good investment choice to me.

Anonymous said...

I agree with the last poster. People with kids and people without kids like SM for the city services, including separate police, fire,libraries, city hall and schools.

Hope Measure A passes, it will make SM schools that more desirable and that more of a luxury item in L.A....a good school system.

Anonymous said...

Anon, the published factors taken into acocunt in deciding whether to grant a permit allowing someone from outside the district to attend a SMMUSD school do include the parent being an employee of the SMMUSD or the City of Santa Monica.

As far as I know, they do not include simply working in SM. (Check the SMMUSD website).

I'm certainly not an expert, and may be wrong on this, but have been visiting SM schools and talking to a lot of school representatives recently. From what I understand, whether or not to grant a permit is often at the discretion of the principal, and is somewhat of a "behind closed doors" process. Based on my recent due diligence, however, I find it highly unlikely that your sort of "part time/ minimum wage job" scenario would work (even without the recent LAUSD policy change).

Also keep in mind that Franklin and Roosevelt, I believe, were over-enrolled the past couple of years, and a number of those that waited to long to register for kindergarten (late summer) had to attend another SM elementary school, even though they lived in the Franklin or Roosevelt enrollment area. I believe this only affected a couple dozen people, but given that some of those who live within the enrollment areas could not attend their neighborhood school, I find it highly unlikely that they would be approving these sorts or permits.

Anonymous said...

Well I know for a fact that there are a large number of kids at Franklin who do not live in the Franklin neighborhood.

Most of these kids live in the other neighborhoods of Santa Monica.

Some kids live in the Pico neighborhood, right near where the gang shootings take place. These are good solid smart kids that go to Franklin in order to avoid the gangs in the Pico neighborhood.

I know of very few kids who live outside the Santa Monica City limits but who still go to Franklin, but there are some that live in Culver City and some that live in Venice who go to Franklin.

Anonymous said...

Ralph Mechur, Maria Leon-Vazquez, Ben Allen, Jose Escarce, Chris Bley all serve on the school board. There have been strong arguments in the past about which teachers to lay off and which to keep. Also strong arguments about which kids to let in to Franklin and which to not let in.

The school board members try to de personalize it and to avoid conflicts of interest.

However, a personal relationship with a school board member can make a difference. The process of deciding which LAUSD kids to let in to Franklin is not transparent. It happens behind closed doors.

Admission to Franklin is very valuable. If you assume that Franklin is as good as private school, six years in Franklin is worth $130,000

Anonymous said...

You have to look to the Franklin school to justify paying the prices in GRS.

Look at it this way, twenty years ago a 1200 square foot house in GRS cost 1.0 million dollars


Today that same exact 1200 square foot house, with no rennovation sells for 1.5 million

So that is 50% price increase in 20 years.

That is less than 2% per year price increase over 20 years.

Putting it another way, you did worse than inflation. Much worse than inflation over that time.

Basically, buy a house in 1990 hold it for 20 years and make little money.

The payoff was from the school district not the house

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:05
It's not about how well mannered your child is or his IQ. Please understand that if you live in LAUSD and want to enroll in a SMMUSD school, LAUSD has the right to determine whether or not to release your child from the district. LAUSD loses money when a child in their district asks to be released. The bottom line is LAUSD does not want to lose any more students (students=$) to ANY district including SMMUSD.

Anon 9:50, the meeting tomorrow night at JAMS Library will be about strategies that parents and the District are taking on the permit situation. Those who are permitted in the district will learn about an appeals process. This will be a good place to get information on how to contact local LAUSD board members on your concerns about your child.

Anonymous said...

"contact local LAUSD board members
"

So we all agree that individual board members have power.


The key thing is to donate to the right politicians in LAUSD to get an LAUSD board member to make sure you are released by LAUSD

We all understand this. But do you also have to donate to the right politicians in SM in order to make sure your kids are put in to Franklin.

Bottom line, we know that the LAUSD part is a challenge. But how much work do you also have to do on the SM side to get the SM board and admin to put your kids in Franklin?

Anonymous said...

"contact local LAUSD board members
"

So we all agree that individual board members have power.


The key thing is to donate to the right politicians in LAUSD to get an LAUSD board member to make sure you are released by LAUSD

We all understand this. But do you also have to donate to the right politicians in SM in order to make sure your kids are put in to Franklin.

Bottom line, we know that the LAUSD part is a challenge. But how much work do you also have to do on the SM side to get the SM board and admin to put your kids in Franklin?

Anonymous said...

Anon 8:04,

Workers for the city and school district have priority. However, to get into SMMUSD it can be sufficient just to have any job in Santa Monica.

I don't know if there is a cut-off for part-time jobs.

Anonymous said...

It is good to get some honest people posting here.

We know for sure the following
1. some people who do not work for the school district, do not work for the city of santa monica, but who do have jobs located in santa monica have gotten permission from Franklin to have their kids enroll in franklin

What we do NOT know right now is, WHO decides which kids from outside are allowed to enroll in Franklin.

We do NOT know if it is the school board that decides, or the admin.

We don't know what the odds are.

We also don't know how many kids in this category there are.

I would like someone with knowledge to share that knowledge.

Count up the kids in Franklin. Tell us the number of kids whose parents don't work for the district and don't work for the city. How many kids are there>

Obviously, someone in power is giving a "gift" of some value to these parents.

Every single person on this blog knows a nice family trapped outside SM that would be thrilled to get their kids in to Franklin. Every single one of us. But of the families trapped outside SM that would be thrilled to get their kids in to Franklin, my hypothesis is that only the ones with the right connections, the ones that know the right people get to put their kids in to Franklin.

I am prepared to be proven wrong. I welcome the facts. But I want people who work in the SM government or school district to be clear and tell me that I am wrong. Tell me the numbers

Anonymous said...

I suggest you parents of young kids who are trying to get them in to good schools rent the old Steve Martin movie "Parenthood". This whole discussion reminds me of the Rick Moranis character in the movie. These are exactly the type of people who are attracted to Santa Monica and you will fit right in.

If you are deeply concerned about your child's long-term well being and education, read books by educational experts like the classic. "Better Late Than Early" by Raymond Moore.

Anonymous said...

I agree. sending your kids to school in SM will not help them be happier or more successful.

End of discussion.

However, many people in LAUSD disagree with me and want their kids to go to SM schools.


So answer the question. Who has the power to decide which kids get in to SM schools and which kids don't

Anonymous said...

The power of getting your kid into Franklin is knowing how the process works. You can apply for a interdistrict permit, but will most likely be denied untiI all families WITHIN the district have got their assignments.

A lot of santa monica families that don't live near that school want to go there too and are given spaces if there is room AND they can make a good arguement to go there (i.e. work near the school, etc.)

I personally have not heard of any kids outside the district going to Franklin. The district would put them in undersubscribed schools in the district first.

If you called the SMMUSD right now, they would tell you no outside permits to Franklin. Technically, only 2 schools in the district accept outside students, SMASH and Edison Language Academy.

Don't know how the others got in.....

Anonymous said...

Jennifer, are you a renter or a homeowner in Santa Monica? I am all for a great education for my children and Measure A sounds like a great idea but are you aware that SM homeowners already pay a parcel tax of $450 that will go on for another 5yrs? I have been paying for a parcel tax in SM for 10 years and my children have just started city schools. SMMUSD gets $27 million from this while a district like Culver City only has $1 million. SMMUSD has 6700 students, while Culver City has 11,000 students. Someone is reaping the benefits of the parcel tax and its obviously not our children, as they have plans to cut the music and arts program. Funny thing, these are the programs the pro-parcel tax folks said would be covered under their plan.

Anonymous said...

4:04

You are very perceptive to notice this. SM is a sanctuary city and has a very large number of undocumented children. Much of the parcel tax money is going to educate the undocumented children (do some research, they need remedial help for many things)

I am not pushing for one political position or the other. The voters of Santa Monica voted to welcome the undocumented, so this is just the logical consequence of a decision mande by the voters

Anonymous said...

$450 a year is a small price to pay for the value of a good public school education....check out the price of private.....

Anonymous said...

Thank you 4:56.

I'm also not pushing for one political position or another on Measure A.

Also, I'm not arguing that $450 is a small price to pay for PUBLIC education.

For the potential SM real estate buyers who visit this blog enlighten yourself and listen to the individuals who have experienced what the parcel tax has or shall I say, has not done for our children's schools.

I've heard the top 3 positions in SMMUSD receive a $300K salary, which is well beyond the salary norm of comparable districts in So Cal of this size/student body count. The money should go to the teachers, students, student programs and not to the overpaid political machine.

FYI, not ALL LAUSD schools are crappy. Palisades Charter Complex is a coveted group of schools within LAUSD. Palisades, Marquez, Kenter Cyn, Topanga Cyn, Canyon School, Paul Revere & Pali High are part of this group.

Anonymous said...

8:16

Yes, I have checked out PRIVATE schools. Yes, I am aware of the private school tuition costs. I purchased real estate in this city and have been a long time resident here.

I'm just saying many are NOT aware of the current parcel tax of $450 + the potential $200 Measure A = $650 for a PUBLIC education in SMMUSD.

Don't forget your schools direct donation + other miscellaneous donations. $$$$

Anonymous said...

Trim the fat off the top 3 SMMUSD salary positions that receive the $300K salaries by $100K/ea.

That would cover the salaries of a couple of teachers. You could save a couple of pink slipped teachers easily.

Anonymous said...

I agree with all of this

OK - today there are 1200 kids in SM schools who don't live in SM

let's assume that the LAUSD forces 600 of them to return to LAUSD

that leaves 600 open slots in our schools for the next school year

Will the SM school district aggressively invite non LAUSD non SM kids to come here?

will they go to culver city and try to get those kids?

how is SM school district going to fill those slots?

Anonymous said...

9:31

If you are not a resident of SM and want to permit your child into the district, your voice was desperately needed at the John Adams Middle School meeting that was held at 6pm.

To keep the subject here related to "real estate" matters, I want to expand on the parcel tax issue.

There are people on this blog who do not understand how much money residents currently pay in parcel taxes.

Regardless of the assessed value of your home and the location of your home in SM, you pay the same $ amount in parcel taxes. For example, a McMansion NOM, a corporation in SM and a 30 unit rent controlled apartment all pay the same $450 in parcel taxes as someone who owns a tiny bungalow or condo in one of the less desirable neighborhoods.

How fair is that?

Anonymous said...

I have tremendous respect for every one that posted above. Thank god the trolls did not show up.

Let's all agree that if you buy a house in Culver City and you work really really hard to push the right buttons, you can get Culver to release your children and you can get Santa Monica schools to accept your children

Instead of your kids going to the Culver schools they can go to the Santa Monica schools.

Most people (not all) would consider this a good thing you are doing for your kids - most people think that 13 years in SM schools beats 13 years in Culver schools

Let's also say that there is a real risk that some time in the 13 years the rules change and your kids get forced to go to Culver schools.

So if you live in Culver you probably can get your kids 13 years of a SM education but you take a chance.

On the other hand, if you settle down in SM then no one can kick you out of the SM schools. They are all yours for the whole 13 years (or as long as you want them)

Does anyone else (non troll) see the world differently? I would love to hear a well reasoned argument why I am wrong

Unknown said...

SM Homeowner here (with school age children). I think the uniform amount per parcel is fair. In this case, taxing the rich doesn't apply..Those NOMO mansions are sending their kids to private school and paying huge property taxes to begin with. And they still have to pay the parcel tax.

Uniform parcel tax is fair unless the parcel is owned by a corporation. Corporations get so many tax breaks (especially in last decade) that in order to be fair, they should have to pay based on a square footage or some tangible factor.

Anonymous said...

"$450 a year is a small price to pay for the value of a good public school education...."

I would agree if the majority of SM residents (ie renters) paid the tax too.

Anonymous said...

I have a suggestion for those of you who've posted multiple 10 paragraph responses- read to your kids an extra 20 minutes per day instead of posting on a blog.

Anonymous said...

Public officials are nuts if they think ANY proposed tax increase or measure will pass this year, irrespective of the 'good' cause.

Time for City Hall to provide budget cutting measures, especially on the headcount side. The expected increased pension costs alone mean it is time to cut services and people just to stay even.

Anonymous said...

OK - so those of us that own houses in SM will pay the parcel tax - ok - got that

but at the same time, kids who live in Culver City will be welcomed in to our schools by the SM school board?
And these culver kids won't pay the taxes

and our SM school board is desperate and hungry for the Culver kids since 600 SM slots are today filled by LAUSD kids that are going to be recalled

And if the SM school board can't replace those 600 kids even more teachers will be fired

Just want to make sure I understand the story

Anonymous said...

From what I understand (based on my tours of several SM schools the past few weeks), class sizes in the early elementary grades will almost certainly increase to 30 this year if the parcel tax does not pass. (It was 20 last year, low 20s this year). This is in addition to the numerous other additional cuts that will have to be made. The effect on the quality of public education in SM will almost certainly be dramatic.

I hope that those who care about public education will not vote against the parcel tax simply due to resentment over the perceived unfairness of the tax (renters, owners of high-priced homes getting a "better" deal). This is the partial "fix" currently available, and imperfect as it may be, it will have a real impact on the quality of education kids receive in SM.

Anonymous said...

"From what I understand (based on my tours of several SM schools the past few weeks), class sizes in the early elementary grades will almost certainly increase to 30 this year if the parcel tax does not pass. (It was 20 last year, low 20s this year"

A 40% increase in class size? Are you writing the scare campaign literature?

Anonymous said...

Yes Franklin Kindergarten class size is going between 25 - 30 students next year (as announced in their recent tours). They are not exactly sure the class size right now. They believe the result will depend on whether the new tax goes through. Also below is a recently published article on the permits into SM. As you will read below most are to the highschool and Edison Language School - not Franklin, Roosevelt, etc.

Schools Face New Budget Challenges
The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent, Ramon Cortines, has made a decision to restrict the type of permits that allow students whose families live within their district boundaries to attend schools in other districts. This decision could deepen the $14 million budget deficit the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) is already facing due to the California’s budget crisis.

Currently, SMMUSD receives almost $7 million annually from the state’s Average Daily Attendance funding for the 1,245 students who are on Inter-District permits from the LAUSD. In an interview with the Mirror, SMMUSD’s Superintendent, Tim Cuneo, mentioned that the LAUSD permit students were spread out throughout the district,but the two schools that would be most effected by the policy change would be Santa Monica High School and the Edison Language Academy. He is “not sure of what the impact” will be on the district.

The magnitude of the effect on the district would depend on the type of out-going permit each LAUSD permit student has received in order to attend the SMMUSD (because LAUSD is allowing exceptions to its new policy.) One exception is to allow students whose parents work in the district outside of the LAUSD to continue to receive a Parent Employment Permit. The other exception would be the Senior Status Permit which would be issued to allow students to complete their final year in another district at their current school if they are going to be in the 5th, 8th, or 12th grade.

Cuneo is “concerned about the timing” of the announcement of the change in LAUSD’s permit policy. He just learned about it on March 8, even though Cortines notified his Board of Education about the change on February 16. Timing is important here because changes in enrollment could effect the district staffing. By law, if teachers have to be laid off for the next academic year they must be noticed by March 15. Cuneo stated that if its necessary to reduce the number of teachers due to the new policy it would not be done until “the following year.”

SMMUSD’s current permit policy allows up to 200 new permit students to enter district schools but not at the high school level. Cuneo noted that recently this has meant about 135-145 new permit students enter the district annually.

The Superintendent also mentioned that very few students whose parents live in the SMMUSD request to attend school outside the district. It is usually requested when a parent works outside the city.


HANNAH HEINEMAN
Mirror Contributing Writer
hannah@smmirror.com

Anonymous said...

Can we all agree on a few things?

Right now, very very few families that live outside the City of Santa Monica get to send their kids to Franklin.

The kids in Franklin are mostly kids who LIVE in Franklin. Some of the kids in Franklin live in other neighborhoods in Santa Monica.

I want to put to rest the myth that you can live in Culver City and send your kids in Franklin. You just can't. Maybee one or two people, but no meaningful number

If you move in to Franklin district and you fill in the forms on time you are almost guaranteed a spot in Franklin for your kids. If you move to another neighborhood of Santa Monica and you get the forms filled in on time you have a moderate chance of getting your kids in to Franklin.

If you move to Culver City and fill in the forms on time you have almost a zero chance of getting in to Franklin


I don't like real estate brokers very much, but when they tell you that if you really really want Franklin the only thing to do is to rent or buy inside Franklin I have to agree that they are mostly being honest

I would point out that not all rentals in Franklin are exceptionally expensive. If you look at the part of Franklin that extends East of 26th Street, there are some reasonably priced rentals. You can get in to Franklin at a reasonable price. I don't buy all this "exclusive" talk

Anonymous said...

SMMUSD has a $14 million budget deficit?

Check out the SM 2009-2010 budget headcount - up every single year since 2005, from 1,903 to over 2,000 this year. Same for expenses. The rest of us have experienced economic cutbacks over the past 5 years, and trimmed our spending to make ends meet. Apparently the City is different than the rest of us.

The SMMUSD budget shortfall means losing 90 teachers and 30 support staff, and increased class sizes. So be it, welcome to the new reality.

SM taxpayers are not a bottomless ATM. Let a few frustrated parents and unions raise a tempest in a teapot; the voters will deliver the 'no more' message at the polls.

Anonymous said...

How many administrators will be cut???? Teachers we get, but its not fair unless the highly paid paper pushers are being let go too.

Anonymous said...

Similar to the listing in LA Times about overtime compensation (a whole lot of folks were getting +$100k a year OT), SMMUSD needs to publish top compensation by position. No need to list names, just position, base pay, OT, and total. This should be public information made available on a periodic basis. If SMMUSD wants more money, they should provide a higher level of transparency.

Your call SMMUSD - lay out the facts and figures on headcount by type, employee comp, enrollment trends, out of area permits, etc - and then let the voters decide if you are good stewards of public finances.

I am open to the facts, not at all interested in the emotional 'children first' and 'we need more' pitches.

Anonymous said...

New GRS houses are now over 4.0 million

421 23Rd Street Santa Monica, CA 90402 $4.4 million. On MLS

Anonymous said...

"SMMUSD needs to publish top compensation by position"

All public school districts have to publish their step schedule of remuneration as part of their union contract. This information is made public to anybody who requests it.

"a whole lot of folks were getting +$100k a year OT"

Not in teaching positions they weren't. Only the top 5% of administrative staff can attain this. Even with OT, subbing, and professional development instructors at the top step in seniority and education wouldn't be able to exceed $100k.

Anonymous said...

Is the salary list available online? If so, could you please provide a link? Thank you.

Also, as a SM homeowner who chose to sacrifice sq. footage for school district, why should I be subsidizing 1200 non-SM residents who want to have their cake and eat it too? At the very least, charge them for the schools instead of constantly bumping up my property taxes. The way I see it, if our schools had 1200 fewer kids, we wouldn't have to increase property taxes.

If the district needs to cut, it shouldn't make the majority of its cuts in the classrooms. Bureaucrats should go first, in addition to the superintendent's car and housing allowance (over and above his 220K salary).

Anonymous said...

http://www.smmusd.org/fiscal/BudgetDocs/030409BudgetPlan.pdf

60 administrators, certificated but not teaching.

11,900 students, 1,400 total staff (certificated and staff), for an aggregate ratio of 8.5:1. Not sure what the benchmarks are for students to total staff, but ending up with ratios > 25:1 means there is a lot of overhead.

Anonymous said...

Glad we got his blog going with the schools and permit debate....