OUSD closing budget gap
By Bret Bradigan

In a welcome relief from the grim uncertainty of its financial predicament, the Ojai Unified School District withdrew from a transportation arrangement with the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools for special education students.

The move will save the district about $160,000 each year; even more should the district choose to buy, rather than lease, the three wheelchair-accessible vans.

That means $160,000 down, $1.34 million or so to go.

"I don't see a downside to this, quite frankly," said Superintendent Dr. Van Riley. When board member Kathi Smith asked if someone was "going to smooth things over with the county," Riley said that the county actually incurred expense administering the special education transportation funds and would have no problems with OUSD taking over the program.

These budget cuts come on top of $1.025 million in cuts the district has already made, bringing the total expected reductions to nearly $2.5 million.
Riley's began his presentation to the board with the qualifier that the budget clouds in Sacramento are unlikely to clear before the district must pass its balanced budget in June.

The key will be Gov. Gray Davis' budget revision in May. "There'll be lots of guesswork between what the legislative analyst then says, and we'll have to guess which way to go," Riley said.

What direction they go will also depend on the employee organizations, particularly the Ojai Federation of Teachers and the California State Employees Organization. Riley's budget cut blueprint includes a one-year step-and-column pay hike freeze and a three-day furlough for all employees that would save the district $600,000. That's on top of reductions in classified staff and expenses for another $200,000 in savings.

During the superintendent's report, the board discussed moves by Ventura Unified School District to tighten its interdistrict transfer policies. As many as 300 students from Oak View and surrounding areas attend Ojai Unified School District on transfers, and while assurances were made that Ventura wouldn't fight transfers for students now attending Ojai schools, it was learned that a hard-line stance was likely.

Riley said that Ventura Unified was apparently pressuring the Ventura County Superintentent of Schools to back their transfer denials.

Riley said that Oak View parents "were very hurt, very upset, very angry," about these moves to deny their children the right to attend Ojai schools, and that a petition to having OUSD annex Oak View was apparently being circulated.

Consistent with the district's view that parents should get to decide which schools their children attend, Riley suggested three approaches to the board.

The first is to seek the county superintendent's help to "hold off on blanket denials for a year," while the annexation issue was explored. Riley warned that annexing Oak View students brought up "legal, financial, bond issues," including having to purchase Sunset Elementary School. The second approach was to develop a system to guide Oak View parents through the appeals process at the county level, should their transfer request be denied by Ventura Unified.

The third, and perhaps most involved, approach, would be to set up Nordhoff High School, Matilija Junior High School, Mira Monte Elementary and Meiners Oaks Elementary as dependent charter schools. Organizational difficulties and complexities aside, this move would mean that any parent in the state of California could send their children to Ojai schools.

"That's a pretty strong position, obviously," Riley said. "But it's the ultimate public school position. Parents should have a choice in public schools, and this is the way to give it to them without going through the appeals process."

Riley planned to report back to the board at its next meeting on May 6 about further discussions with the county superintendent.

Assistant Superintendent Jim Berube said that the voluntary drug testing program tested its first six students, and that he closely followed the procedures.

"I feel strongly that the procedures have to be discreet, and direct and legal," he said. So far, 85 students have signed up, and 10 were tested. Six more tests are planned by the end of the school year. "The feedback I get is from families is that they've never had the discussions they're having now," he said.

The sparsely attended meeting did not include any members of the Citizens for Peaceful Resolution, which requested a board action to allow students to "opt in" to the provision of the recent No Child Left Behind Act that required schools to share information with military recruiters.

The form, which was drafted and presented, would allow students to indicate where they would like their information released - military recruiters, colleges or employers.

Since an oversight led to the Nordhoff High School's release of information form being dropped from the regular agenda and placed before the board for inclusion as an emergency item, the board voted to bring it back May 6 for further discussion and possible action.

Board member Rikki Horne said the board needed to beware of possible Brown Act violations, "The public's right to know supersedes what's on the agenda."

Mira Monte parent Kristin Belshe urged the board to come to the school Friday morning for their "Snow Day," where 12 tons of snow were being trucked in for simulated winter fun as a reward for the students.

Riley also said that the word from the 120 Nordhoff High School students who returned this week from New York City after their performance at Carnegie Hall was upbeat. The performances went well and were well-received by large crowds.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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