SANTA MONICA—Enrollment in the Santa Monica school systems have decreased this year, particularly in the high schools. While enrollment is down, the class size has remained the same, some have even gotten larger. The average student to teacher ratio for Santa Monica High School is 36 to 1.

Board of Education President Laurie Lieberman spoke to Canyon News and indicated that if they can fix the financial situation then they can increase enrollment, and balancing class size is the key. The state has made budget cuts, which affected the number of teachers in the school system and staff cuts had to be made. The number of students enrolled into public high schools has dropped 3.5 percent, but elementary and private schools have boosted their enrollments.

According to the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School Districts website, since October 3, there have been three teachers that resigned, two on medical leave, and one high school teacher transferred to an elementary school. During the last board meeting on Thursday, October 17, they discussed ways to boost enrollment and what to do about the student teach ratio. No decisions were made, but Lieberman assured Canyon News that it would be further discussed. The next board meeting is scheduled for November 7.