Los Altos to Close

City offers to help district find money to avoid further closures

 

The Pleasant Valley school board decided at Thursday's meeting to close Los Altos Middle

School, but an offer from city officials may save other district schools from the same fate.   

 

Camarillo Mayor Jan McDonald spoke at the standing-room-only board meeting and asked

the board to put off making a decision about school closures until members meet with city

officials in an effort to find other ways to pay for teachers' raises.

 

City Manager Jerry Bankston said after the meeting that the City Council has not fully discussed

the issue of closures and that the city's ability to help the school district is limited.

 

"There is very little, if anything, that the city can do as a direct financial support for the

maintenance and operations for the school district," Bankston said.

 

Bankston said the City Council and the local school district operate independently.

A number of state laws prohibit the city from interfering with the school district and vice versa.

 

He added, however, that because Camarillo is a "relatively small community" the city and

schools have a greater interest in ensuring the other stays healthy.

 

'Not the eleventh hour'

Although there were some comments that the city should not have waited until the last

minute to offer the district help, Bankston said Thursday's board meeting was the most

logical time for an offer to be made.

 

"We have to keep in mind that the school district board was scheduled last evening to debate,

discuss and consider options. So that's actually not the eleventh hour, it's the first hour,"

Bankston said.

 

Recommended closures

Earlier this month, an advisory committee and district officials recommended the school board

close Los Primeros Structured, Camarillo Heights Elementary and Los Altos Middle schools to

raise $1.5 million to pay for teachers' salary raises.

 

Pleasant Valley teachers' salaries and benefits are nearly the lowest in Ventura County , officials

said.

The closure recommendations sparked protests from parents, particularly from those whose

children attend Camarillo Heights . Parents launched a campaign to save their school from the

chopping block, which included a rally along Carmen Drive last week.

 

McDonald told the board that the city doesn't want to see neighborhood schools shut down. A

shuttered school invites vandalism and becomes a liability for the city and school district, and

safety is a concern when reassigned students must cross busy streets, she said.

 

Bankston said the City Council discussed the possible school closures during a goal-setting

session in February. He said he and his staff members were told by the council that if a

school had to close, the city would need to do something to help ensure that the property

didn't become an eyesore.  

 

"If the district closed one or more campuses, the council wanted staff to be in a position to

report back to the council as to what would be a reuse that would keep that school site from

being boarded up," Bankston said. "The City Council does not want boarded-up empty

buildings."

 

Long, tense night

Parents started gathering outside city hall two hours before the 7 p.m. school board meeting

began. Once the doors opened, nearly 400 Camarillo residents filled the council chambers and

spilled over into the lobby.

 

The audience was a sea of red, green and yellow; parents wore T-shirts supporting their school.

Teachers sported yellow "Buildings don't teach" buttons to indicate they backed the closures.

 

A uniformed police officer sat at the side of the room during the five-hour meeting; Interim

Superintendent Ken Moffett had asked the officer to be present at previous discussions on the

issue because meetings had become tense. 

 

While parents told trustees that teachers deserve a salary raise, they asked the board to

consider alternative sources of funding rather than closing schools.

 

If Los Primeros is moved to another campus, parents asked the board to preserve the integrity

of the school's curriculum by keeping the program intact, as well as the school's staff.

 

In urging the board to boost salaries, teachers said that it's their dedication to the students and

not the physical building that makes a school special.

 

"The outstanding teachers and programs will exist, just in another building," said Amy Griffin, an

El Descanso Elementary School teacher.

 

History teacher Brett Fuchs said later that he pays $400 a month for family health care coverage

but can't afford the additional cost of dental coverage for his two small children.

 

The Camarillo native said he's looked at teaching somewhere else but would rather stay put.

 

"I have a lot invested in the community, in the schools," Fuchs said.

 

Board members backed away from making a decision to close more schools, saying they wanted

to explore other options. Those options include the possibility of redrawing school boundaries.

 

"I still have a lot of unanswered questions," school board member Jennifer Miller said."I cannot

take a position on this tonight without some more information I feel I need."

 

Other school board members pressed for a resolution of the issue.

 

"I really don't want to put off a decision---­the community deserves answers; our staff deserves

answers," Patty Lerner said.

 

At about midnight , the board decided to form two groups. Moffett will appoint a committee

to meet with city officials in an  attempt to find other revenue sources that could be used to

boost teachers' salaries. Camarillo Heights parents Mark Pachowicz, an attorney, and Evan

Masyr, a certified public accountant, will review the district's financial status and offer

suggestions for operating the district more efficiently.

 

The board plans to meet again Thurs., March 22.

 

                                                          Daniel Wolowicz contributed to this story.