Legislature 2 CA Limit set on bills.
leopard 4 Endangered Dies at age 21.
City 3 Curious Charles’ farewell column.
Buddy 6 Gas Where to fill up locally.
Volume 24 Issue 14
smdp.com
WEDNESDAY 12/4/24
birth IV innovation pads Downtown med California centers are shutting down. A lawmaker spa’s services has a new plan to
Improved ELA, math scores highlight School Dashboard results
help them
THOMAS LEFFLER SMDP Staff Writer
Campuses throughout Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) saw marked improvements in several categories in the 2024 California School Dashboard. The Dashboard, released annually to assess student success across key indicators, is a crucial component of the state’s school accountability system. The data ranges from categories like graduation rates and suspension rates to test scores and English learner progress. Broken into five color-coded categories, “red” being the lowest performance and “blue” being the highest, SMMUSD’s Dashboard metrics remain largely unchanged from 2023. The district has two metrics at the highest “blue” level in 2024, one being a Graduation Rate of 97.4%, up 2.2% from the prior year and outpacing the state rate of 86.7%. Another high-placing metric was English Language Arts (ELA), based on student performance on either the Smarter Balanced Summative Assessment or the California Alternate Assessment for grades 3-8 and grade 11. SMMUSD students were noted as being 56.2 points above grade-level standards, way above the state average of 13.2 points below the standard. The one change on district Dashboard metrics is English Learner Progress going from a “green” score to a “yellow” one, a decline of 6.9% of current EL students making progress towards English language proficiency or maintaining the highest level. SEE SMMUSD PAGE 8
KRISTEN HWANG Special to the Daily Press
While NAD+ treatments (also available at Dripology) can take anywhere from 1-4 hours, the FAST NAD) drip gives a patient one-fourth of a typical dosage, something Chief of Operations
Many California families want to bring their babies into the world outside of a hospital, but the state isn’t making it easy for them. Half of the state’s birth centers have closed since 2020, leaving only four licensed facilities open. Birth centers don’t need a state license to operate, but the expensive and onerous process of obtaining one is one of the primary reasons why birth centers are failing. Most insurers and Medi-Cal, the state’s public health insurance program for low-income residents, will only work with licensed facilities. Compounding the problem is the rapid closure of hospital labor wards, creating maternity care deserts in communities of all sizes. That’s why Assemblymember Mia Bonta, a Democrat from Oakland and chairperson of the Health Committee, is planning to introduce a bill today to ease birth center licensing requirements. “Eliminating requirements that are only driving up prices for providers and are irrelevant to patient safety is a much- needed step to ensure our remaining birth centers can stay afloat and lay the groundwork for more facilities to open,” Bonta said. The bill, Bonta plans to introduce, would delete a requirement that birth centers participate in a specific Medi-Cal benefit known as the comprehensive perinatal services program, which includes services such as nutrition counseling and psychosocial support. Until recently, midwives weren’t allowed to participate in the program, making
SEE WELLNESS PAGE 7
SEE BIRTH CENTERS PAGE 8
Courtesy Photo
WELLNESS: Dripology provides a range of services, from IV drips to skin revitalization. THOMAS LEFFLER SMDP Staff Writer
A Santa Monica business duo is sharing their brotherly love to the community via its latest innovation. This past month, med-spa
Dripology at 1411 7th St. unveiled its FAST NAD+ IV drip, delivering the powerful benefits of NAD+ in just under 15 minutes. Found in all living cells, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) is designed to boost cellular energy, mental clarity and longevity.
Gary Limjap (310) 586-0339
In today’s real estate climate ...
Experience counts! garylimjap@gmail.com
www.garylimjap.com
CalRE # 00927151