SMMUSD Accepting Applications To Fill Board Of Education Vacancy

SANTA MONICA, CA — The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District’s Board of Education is accepting applications to fill a vacancy on the board that was created when Oscar de la Torre was elected to an open Santa Monica City Council seat in the November 2020 election.

De la Torre was first elected to the Board of Education in November 2002 and was re-elected in November 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. The Board of Education will undergo the appointment process to bring a new member on board to serve out the remainder of De la Torre’s term, which expires in December 2022.

The person selected for this appointment can—if they decide—and continues to meet eligibility requirements, run for the full four-year open seat in the November 2022 election.

To be eligible to serve on the board, a person must be the following:

• 18 years of age or older
• A citizen of the state
• A resident of the school district
• A registered voter
• Not disqualified by the Constitution or laws of the state from holding a civil office

"Any person who has been convicted of a felony involving the giving, accepting, or offering of a bribe, embezzlement or theft of public funds, extortion, perjury, or conspiracy to commit any such crime, under California law or the law of another state, the United States, or another country, is not eligible to be a Board member except when he/she has been granted a pardon in accordance with law," according to a district officials news release.

"Eligibility is determined regardless of race, color, ancestry, national origin, ethnic group identification, religion, marital or parental status, physical or mental disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression, or genetic information, the perception of one or more of such characteristics, or association with a person or group with one or more of these actual or perceived characteristics," district officials said.

Here's the application process:

Applications are available at https://www.smmusd.org/Page/6279.

Completed applications can be submitted to the Superintendent’s Office via email to swahrenbrock@smmusd.org.

The Superintendent’s office will receive completed applications until 4:30 p.m. on Dec. 17.

During winter break, a subcommittee of the Board of Education, which consists of no more than three seated board members, will review the applications for eligibility and based on Education Code 35107 and Government Code 1770, officials said.

When the second semester begins in January 2021, the board subcommittee will inform the Superintendent’s office which applicants meet the eligibility criteria, officials said.

The Superintendent’s office will invite those applicants to participate in the interview process, which will take place at the regularly scheduled board meeting on Jan. 14. The interview process, deliberations, and final appointment will all occur during open session at the Jan. 14 board meeting, which will be held via Zoom. The agenda for this regular meeting will be posted online by Jan. 8 at https://www.smmusd.org/domain/2977.

Members of the public with questions regarding this appointment process are encouraged to contact the Superintendent’s office at swahrenbrock@smmusd.org.