July 13, 2025 Breaking News, Latest News, and Videos

Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Prepares for SMASH/Muir Campus Mold Removal

Exact costs for repairs still unknown

By Dolores Quintana and Sam Catanzaro 

It is unknown exactly how much the total cost will be to deal with the water damage and mold issues at the John Muir Elementary and Santa Monica Alternative School House (SMASH) campus, but as of last week, the school district has paid out about $180,000 in costs for testing and investigations of the buildings and outside areas. 

On June 23 during a special meeting of the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) Board of Education, the board approved a number of items to begin the “destructive investigation” of the campus and its buildings, located at 2525 5th Street. The buildings have been heavily damaged by the passing decades of water encroachment, dry rot, insect incursion and mold. 

Of that $180,000, the highest cost is $42,496 for a contract with a company that would “include the cost of architectural services as well as the addition of a construction cost estimator to the team,” as stated on the meeting’s agenda. 

The staff’s report states, “The addition of a cost estimator will assist with proper budgeting and will allow the District to compare the construction cost of the work as it evolves against the replacement value of each building. The additional architectural services proposed include preparation of exhibits outlining the known locations of past water intrusion-related problems and illustrating the work proposed to be completed during this phase of the invasive investigation.”

Little Architects is the company that will be granted that contract and the funds, will be allocated out of Measure SMS funds. Measure SMS is a $485 million bond measure meant to improve school facilities that has a huge budget. The company already has been granted two contracts in May for roughly $92,015 on this project which were part of the first stage of the investigation of the campus and involved in “evaluating what is found and determining what the next steps will be” With this potential approval of a third contract, Little Architects contract payout total would rise to $135,511.

The Muir/SMASH campus investigation started in May the findings report was issued by SMMUSD on the damages to the 26-year-old campus for students from pre-school through eighth grade. 

The DTR Consulting Services, Inc. report detailed “poor construction practices, age and exposure, deferred maintenance, and defective or inappropriate installation of materials, including during relatively recent repair or remediation work” calling the work the most likely culprit in the 131 pages of the report that was commissioned by the SMMUSD. 

There are also three other contracts under consideration by the school board that would total up to $33,500 for movers who would remove items such as “furniture and contents” and “audio visual,” equipment and “technology”  from certain classrooms in the buildings that have noticeably larger mold levels. The affected rooms are 400, 415 and 480 at SMASH (all classrooms); 101 (technical room) and 513 (janitorial room) at Muir; and 210B (media room), 600 (kindergarten room), and 602 (teacher prep room) at Muir.

Additionally, the school board has already approved $11,249 on May 19 on a contract with Alta Environmental that covers “environmental sampling, testing and reporting.” 

SMMUSD Chief Operating Officer Carey Upton said, as quoted by the Santa Monica Daily Press, “We don’t know how much this is going to cost. It’s not going to be cheap,” when asked in May. 

The estimate is that the campus might be closed for one or two years while the investigation, remediation and potential rebuilding process is being handled. 

The School District has chosen to relocate the entire student population of the campus before next fall: SMASH students will move to the current Olympic High School campus, also known as the Michelle and Barack Obama Center for Inquiry and Exploration. Muir students will be sent to different replacement campuses with most heading to Will Rogers Elementary School, while others could go to campuses that include Franklin, Grant, Roosevelt or McKinley elementary schools in the city of Santa Monica. The students could also have the option of commuting to Malibu to attend Webster or Malibu elementary schools.

During the June 23 meeting, Kat Blandino, a speaker during the public comment period,  criticized SMMUSD’s plan for replating Muir Students. 

“The John Muir community has been treated completely inequitable,” Blandino said. “The difference between what SMASH and John Muir families were given in the questionnaire and the bait and switch that happened from the meeting into your surveys and the options these families have is kind of horrendous. And it is certainly horrendous when you have known about the issue at that campus for years and suddenly there’s an urgency that you had to rush these things through and then distribute and divide the John Muir community into other schools who are already overpopulated and who’s class sizes are already too large.”

<>Related Posts

County Health Leaders Decry Federal Policy Barring Undocumented from Programs

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

The officials argued the policy jeopardizes care for all residents, noting it could deter people—regardless of status—from seeking treatment  Leaders...

County Supervisors Move to Preserve Measure J Amid Charter Error

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

Measure J mandates that at least 10% of the county’s locally generated, unrestricted funds be allocated to community investments like...

LA Medical Center Seeks Help Identifying Unconscious Patient

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

He has been unconscious since admission, and staff have been unable to determine his identity Los Angeles General Medical Center,...

Mayor Bass Issues Directive to Protect Immigrant Communities

July 12, 2025

July 12, 2025

The order expands access to city resources for affected families and requests records from ICE, including details on arrests Mayor...

Downtown Santa Monica CEO Andrew Thomas to Step Down

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

Thomas, who rejoined DTSM, Inc. in 2022, oversaw the introduction of a private security program, expanded homeless outreach, and boosted...

Conservancy to Tour Historic Miles Playhouse at State of the City Event

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

Built in 1929, the Miles Playhouse serves as the centerpiece of Lincoln Park The Santa Monica Conservancy will offer 15-minute...

Sen. Ben Allen Highlights Challenges, Economic Gains for LA28 Olympics

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

The remarks came during the first informational hearing of the Senate’s Special Committee on International Sporting Events State Sen. Ben...

(Video) Summer Camp at School of Rock West LA Turns Kids Into Rockstars

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

To Sign Up Now, Go To Schoolofrock.com Summer Camp at School of Rock West LA Turns Kids Into Rockstars To...

L.A. Louver Marks David Hockney’s 88th with Exhibit

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

Hockney, a British artist born in 1937, gained fame with the British Pop Art movement and later became known for...

Suspect Arrested in Shoe Retail Theft Spree Across LA County

July 11, 2025

July 11, 2025

During the search, police recovered two firearms and a significant quantity of merchandise The Los Angeles Police Department’s Organized Retail...

Suspect Arrested in Santa Monica Pier Arson Incidents

July 10, 2025

July 10, 2025

The suspect, matching video footage from an arcade, was taken into custody Santa Monica Police Department officers arrested a suspect...

SMPD Launch New Recruitment Website Amid High Vacancy Rates

July 10, 2025

July 10, 2025

The site features multimedia content, including day-in-the-life videos and officer profiles, highlighting the impact of serving the community The Santa...

Father-Daughter Authors to Host Book Signing to Aid Fire-Affected Women

July 10, 2025

July 10, 2025

Ten percent of proceeds from book and art sales will benefit the Pacific Palisades Rebuilding Fund, a nonprofit initiative created...

Metro Reports Crime Drop, Higher Rider Satisfaction, and Progress on Major Projects

July 9, 2025

July 9, 2025

The Authority said the drop in violent incidents—down to the lowest level since May 2019—coincided with more uniformed personnel and...

Santa Monica Joins Regional Lawsuit to Halt Unconstitutional ICE Raids

July 9, 2025

July 9, 2025

The motion to intervene seeks to ensure that Santa Monica and other plaintiff-intervenors can advocate for their residents’ rights in...