The Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is closer to splitting in two as the Malibu City Council voted to approve a proposed separation plan on Monday night.

The decision follows the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education's unanimous vote last week to break the nearly 70-year-old district in two.

Now, state approval is needed before the Malibu Unified School District and the Santa Monica Unified School District become their own entities.

Malibu Mayor Marianne Riggins says it's the right decision and the right time to have a Malibu Unified School District, as local control has been sought after for decades.

"This has been the end of a long negotiated time period between the district and the City of Malibu in order to create the Malibu Unified School Distr

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