Schools reach deal on Oak View students
By Bret Bradigan

An uneasy truce in the tug-of-war for Oak View students was agreed upon Tuesday evening as the Ojai Unified School District board of trustees called off plans to designate area schools as charter schools.

In a May 14 letter to OUSD Superintendent Dr. Van Riley, his counterpart at the Ventura Unified School District, Dr. Trudy Arriaga, backed off their earlier denial of requests by parents within the district to transfer their students to Ojai schools, and agreed to approve all transfers for students, except for those in grades kindergarten, seventh and ninth, in exchange for OUSD not recruiting those students, most of whom live in the Oak View area. Riley said some 280 students from Oak View attended Ojai schools, and many of them faced blanket denials.

The issue, he said, boiled down to parents' freedom to choose schools for their children. "We simply disagree with them over the issue of parental choice within our public schools," he said, though Ventura "already granted some transfers."

Should Ventura hold to their agreement, Riley recommended "halting the application process for developing dependent charters" for the next school year. Should Ojai schools be designated as charter schools, all children could attend those schools without requiring the approval of their home district.

Board president Tim Peddicord said the letter from Arriaga still expressed a hard line about those Oak View students belonging to the Ventura district, and indicated that the issue wasn't likely to go away. "As we go along, and they don't live up to their agreement, we'll declare war, whatever it takes, if we find blanket rejections," he said.
Riley said that all options were open, including forming charter schools and even annexing Oak View into the Ojai district. "I think we've taken the right stance," he said. "We have a year to work on this."

John Walker, the district's classified personnel director, is also a trustee with the Ventura Unified School District. He said, "We're somewhat divided on this," but that the board did not want to "force Ojai to become a dependent charter, and lose another 300 students."

Peddicord said that annexation should be examined. "I feel strongly that the people of Oak View should be in the Ojai district."

Dr. Tim Baird, the district's assistant superintendent, who will take the helm of the district July 1 after Riley assumes the top post with the Huntington Beach Unified High School District, said, "We'll be looking at annexation in all its forms."

The bleak budget picture lightened somewhat this week, as the district learned that it had gained back about $250,000 from earlier forecasts. That means, with budget cuts already made, it only needed to make an additional $100,000 to $300,000 to close the gap. While the budget picture is likely to change as legislators in Sacramento go toe-to-toe with Gov. Davis over the state's record shortfall, Riley said these are the budget numbers the district needs to proceed with its own budget, due for board approval at the June 24 meeting.

Another bit of bright news shining through the budget clouds, Riley said, was that the district was able to hire back three teachers from the 12.4 positions it was forced to eliminate in March.

The board broke ranks from its usual consensus with the 4-1 vote on whether to loan $300,000 to the Ojai Performing Arts Center
foundation to draw up plans for the 400-seat auditorium at Nordhoff High School. Board members expressed concerns about getting that money back should donor pledges fall through, and about clearly establishing the school district's priority of use.

"I just don't feel comfortable about having to collect on this," said Rikki Horne before casting her lone vote of dissent.

Bob Unruhe said he wanted "a clear statement of use of the facility, and who should have priority on the use of the facility. Otherwise, there could be trouble down the road."

Dr. Marty Babayco, principal of Meiners Oak Elementary School, said that community groups and the schools work together routinely on productions and use of space, such as Matilija Junior High School auditorium, where sets from the recent Nordhoff spring musical were used by three different groups. "The arts community of Ojai has become a lot closer because of your interest," he said.

Joan Kemper, representing the arts center foundation, said there was risk involved, but "should the center not be built (by the foundation), that money's not lost. You'll have plans for an auditorium you definitely need." She also noted that students would learn valuable job skills, whether it was working on school or community productions.

Board member Kathi Smith agreed. "This is a prudent way for us to take a leadership role. We just have to step into that breach, but we're not doing it recklessly."

The motion carried, with the provision that a memorandum of understanding be drawn up to state that the school district would have first call on the facility.

Employees and students were also recognized at Tuesday's meeting, as mechanic Don Downard was recognized as the district's classified employee of the year. The district's transportation supervisor, Eric Ordway, said, "Every manager has that ideal employee they love working for them, and Don is that. Assistant Superintendent Jim Berube, said, "The transportation department is absolutely running perfectly," noting that it safely handles 900 students in the morning and 1,100 in the evening.

Mira Monte Elementary School sixth graders Kelsey and Carey Jonker presented their award-winning speeches, from an annual oratorical competition sponsored by the Optimist Club. Kelsey, who won the zone 6 contest and competed recently in a regional contest in Palm Springs, spoke about the importance of maintaining an optimistic outlook in local schools, despite budget pressures and declining enrollment, "I feel the only way to make it through the tough times we face is to work together and keep an optimistic attitude towards learning."

Carey spoke about how pioneers were powered by their positive attitudes. "All the groups that formed this country had high hopes and a strong will."

In other business, the board approved, as required by the No Child Left Behind law, single plans for student achievement and its local educational agency plan. Though the law is still sketchy, districts are required to have plans in place to hold the districts accountable and flexible. Baird said, "All across America, school boards are approving these, I guarantee it." Babayco said there "was still a lot of work to do" on these five-year plans.

© 2003 The Ojai Valley News

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