MSN_061319

malibusurfsidenews.com School
Malibu surfside news | June 13, 2019 | 13
SMMUSD Board of Education
District approves appointment of new elementary school principal
Michele Willer-Allred
Malibu youth promote pending climate-change lawsuit
Anastassia Kostin
Freelance Reporter
Over 15 student activists
gathered outside of Malibu
Seafood on June 1, to bring
attention to the upcoming
Juliana vs. United States
lawsuit.
“This is the most important
case of our generation,”
said Collette Aldrich,
Malibu Green Wave
youth organizer and senior
Malibu High School student.
The lawsuit began four
years ago, with 21 young
people suing the federal
government for violating
their constitutional rights
by knowingly contributing
to climate change over the
past 50 years.
“The U.S. government
has been trying to stop
this case from going to
trial since the day it began
and failed every time,” Aldrich
said. “But on June 4,
the kids will present their
The approval of a new
Webster Elementary School
principal and a one-year
extension to the superintendent’s
contract were some
of the actions taken at the
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified
School District meeting
on Thursday, June 6.
The SMMUSD Board
of Education voted 5-0,
with board members Craig
Foster and Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein
absent,
to approve the appointment
of Lila Daruty as the new
principal of Webster Elementary
beginning in the
fall.
Daruty has a bachelor’s
degree in psychology from
Loyola Marymount University
and a master’s in
education administration
from UCLA.
She started her teaching
career in the Hawthorne
School District and joined
SMMUSD in 2004 as an
elementary school teacher
at Will Rogers Learning
Community and McKinley
Elementary School.
She is currently assistant
principal at Grant Elementary
School and coordinator
for the district’s Beginning
Teacher Induction Production.
“Lila is passionate about
the classroom and collaborating
with colleagues to
ensure outstanding teaching
and learning. Her passion
for teaching and learning
for all learners shined
during her hiring process,”
SMMUSD Superintendent
Ben Drati said.
“I’ve spent 20 years
serving students, and 15
of those I’ve been really
fortunate to serve in the
SMMUSD,” Daruty said.
“I’ve learned so much from
argument in Portland, Oregon
at the Court of Appeals.”
This hearing is monumental
because if passed,
it will prevent federal
leases for offshore drilling
and gas exploration, new
federal permits for coal
mining on federal land and
new federal approvals for
expanding facilities for
fossil fuel extraction.
Since students in Malibu
have been affected by climate
change in diverse
ways, from losing their
homes in the Woolsey
Fire, to seeing the environmental
degradation around
them, they come together
under one common goal —
change fossil fuel policies
before they push the climate
system over tipping
point and into catastrophe.
Among the personal stories
shared, Malibu High
School student Anderson
Newman pointed to the
beauty of Malibu’s environment,
much of which
perished in the Woolsey
Fire but also due to other
climate changes.
“This place is part of
the most biodiverse region
of the world — the California
Floristic Province.
my colleagues, from staff,
and from my students. So,
I’m really excited about
this next opportunity in my
career to get to know and
work collaboratively with
the students, the staff and
the community at Webster
School in Malibu.”
It was also announced
that Malibu High School
student Kimya Ashfar will
continue to serve as Malibu’s
student representative
to the district during the
next school year.
Ashfar said she’s trying
to bring a Youth in Government
program to Malibu
Newman said. “Now, the
chaparral that we live in
the Mediterranean ecosystem
is one of the most
threatened communities on
Earth. It has already lost
70 percent of its natural
habitat.”
High School.
The board also voted 4-0,
with board member Oscar
de la Torre abstaining, to
approve the completion of
Drati’s performance evaluation
as “positive” for the
2018-19 school year. They
also approved a one-year
extension to his employment
agreement.
During his superintendent’s
report, Drati congratulated
all the graduating
students in the district.
“We certainly had our
highs and lows this year as
a district,” Drati said. “A lot
happened, but I think we
Georgia Kennedy-Bailey introduces the Malibu Green Wave Initiative at the Malibu
Green Wave Press Conference June 1 outside Malibu Seafood. Anastassia Kostin/
Surfside News
Bay laurel and purple
sage plants were passed
out to the crowd, so that
people could smell it and
“really appreciate it,” as
Newman said.
The movement is spreading
rapidly, with Malibu’s
have resilient people in this
district and our students
continue to thrive.
“Great job community.
Great job parents. We certainly
learned a lot from
this year. We’re going to
really debrief and get some
rest, and reconvene and
start all over for next year.”
The District’s Local Control
Accountability Plan
and 2019-20 fiscal year
budget will come back
on the agenda at a special
board meeting on Thursday,
June 20, with action
and approval at a regular
board meeting on June 27.
conference on June 1 one
of close to 100 in the nation,
ranging from small
towns to urban cities. And
youth organizers Aldrich
and Georgia Kennedy-
Bailey, who have a history
of advocating together, are
not only working at the national
level.
The Malibu Foundation,
a nonprofit organization
created to help Southern
California rebuild and recover
after the Woolsey
Fire, will serve as the umbrella
foundation for the
The Malibu Green Wave,
the youth-led initiative
working to provide resources
to young activists.
Kennedy-Bailey said the
student ambassador program
will be launched this
fall, with the goal of giving
local kids and teenagers
from grades six to 12 the
opportunity to help their
community after the fires
Please see GREEN WAVE, 15