By Niki Cervantes
Staff Writer

December 15, 2015 -- Preparing for a year that could usher in major changes to Santa Monica-Malibu public schools, the School Board last week re-elected Laurie Lieberman as president and voted to install Ralph Mechur as vice president.

Lieberman and Mechur, who have long and extensive ties with the district, were elected at the Board’s annual reorganization meeting December 10 and will serve for one year.

“I will continue to work hard to ensure we continue to support all students, while overseeing new technology and facilities initiatives on the horizon to enhance and improve school learning environments,” Lieberman said.

Lieberman, who was elected by a unanimous vote, was the only nominee for board president. Mechur beat Richard Tahvildaran-Jesswein on a 4-to-3 vote.

Lieberman, whose children attended District schools, first became involved as a parent in 1996. In 2012, she co-chaired the district’s successful campaign for Measure ES, a $385-million bond approved by voters for improvements to facilities and technology.

An attorney, Lieberman was first elected to the Board in 2010 and was top vote getter when she ran for re-election in November 2014. Her colleagues on the School Board elected her as president the next month, with Jose Escarce elected to serve as vice president.

Mechur, who will replace Escarce, was first appointed to the seven-member School Board in 2007, subsequently winning a full term in 2010. He failed to win re-election last year – finishing in fifth place in a race for four seats -- but was again appointed last January for the seat vacated by now state senator Ben Allen (D-Santa Monica).

Mechur said 2016 will be a challenging year, with the district expected to step up negotiations over the proposed secession of Malibu. The split, he said, could cost the District at least $3 million a year, a financial blow that will be difficult to absorb (“Santa Monica School Board Members Support Malibu Split,” December 2, 2015).

After years of struggling to stay out of the red, especially during the Great Recession, the district approved a $138 million budget this year that includes a healthy reserve, Mechur noted.

The impact of Malibu’s potential secession is being analyzed more carefully than ever, he said.

“We’re going to be going through a lot of financial issues” in the coming negotiations, he said.

“Will there need to be special legislation, how do we deal with bond indebtedness? What will two districts look like and how can each district provide the same depth of programming we now have? That will be the challenge.”

At its reorganization meeting, the School Board also appointed other board members to represent the district.

Tahvildaran-Jesswein was chosen to serve in the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association and Board Member Craig Foster was selected to serve on the California School Boards Association’s delegate assembly. He will also be the district’s representative to the Los Angeles County Committee on School District Organization.