Big money at stake in school district transfer issues
by Bret Bradigan

Many Oak View students have naturally gravitated toward Ojai schools. Until last year, that is.
Ventura Unified School District began more strenuously denying those transfer requests for the 2001-02 school year, which, according to a report by district officials at a recent board meeting, lost the Ojai Unified School District an estimated 120 students - 60 of which successfully appealed to the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools office and were subsequently allowed to transfer in - and cost them about $300,000 in average daily attendance revenue from the state of California.
Those lost students have made up a big part of the declining enrollment at the 4,000-student Ojai district, which is down 130 students this year, and expects to be down 189 students for next year.
The declining enrollment and revenue has forced the district to cut $1.8 million from its $25 million budget, and led to contentious board meetings, with classified staff questioning whether those cuts have been fairly made.
The situation isn't much better at Sunset Elementary School in Oak View - built in 2000 for a capacity of 500 students, it currently enrolls about 300, according to Jerry Dannenberg, assistant superintendent for education services with the Ventura Unified School District. He said that De Anza Middle School, just north of Stanley Avenue, is also underenrolled.
"We're trying to maintain our enrollment," he said, and these transfers into Ojai "are having a severe effect on our enrollment."
Just how severe can be gauged from the transfer requests that have been approved. According to Gail Albertson, the Ojai district's attendance specialist, there have been 155 transfers approved from Ventura into Ojai, most of which are Oak View residents, most of which are for students who have been attending Ojai schools for several years.
At $5,000 per student in Average Daily Attendance revenue, those 155 students earn the Ojai Unified School District $775,000, and cost Ventura the same amount.
New transfer applications are being denied by Ventura Unified School District, as are those of children making the shift from fifth to sixth grade. Instead of allowing those children to attend sixth grade in Ojai schools, they are being corralled back into De Anza Middle School.
Ojai Unified Assistant Superintendent Jim Berube said that these transfer denials are troubling, because "parental choice is very important." When districts tighten up transfer policies, it splits up families and causes transportation and schedule hardships.
"Parents should be able to send their children to any district they want," Berube said.
If denied by Ventura Unified School District, parents can appeal to the next level - the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools office. It appears that many, if not most, of those who appealed Ventura Unified's pro forma denials won their appeals.
According to county schools policy, appeals are stamped and scheduled for a hearing with 10 days. That hearing takes place within 30 days after the filing.
There are eight criteria the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools uses to approve appeals:
· The district cannot offer a particular educational program required by the pupil.
· Danger to the pupil's health or safety.
· Change of district boundaries that places the student's residence outside the school they previously attended.
· A curriculum change in the desired district that results in improved educational services for the employee.
· The student's residence is so situated that they must travel through the desired district to get to the current school.
· Student's residence is located within the boundaries of two school districts.
· Child care needs.
While Ojai Unified School District doesn't assist parents with the appeals process, Berube said, "We feel parents should have knowledge of their rights, especially of their right to appeal."

© 2002 The Ojai Valley News

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