County unification committee could decide issue in December
Review period for environmental report is now over
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Residents and county agencies had 45 days to review a preliminary environmental impact report on a unified Pleasant Valley School District. When the review period ended Oct. 30, the report met criticism that it failed to offer a substantial analysis.

Made public in midSeptember, the report analyzed the impact of district unification on aesthetics, air and water quality, noise, public services, traffic circulation and utilities. The study is one of many steps the state requires of school districts seeking to educate children from kindergarten through high school.

Camarillobased Impact Sciences prepared the document and will respond to the comments in a final report expected to go before the County Committee on School District Organization at its Dec. 18 meeting.

Three Camarillo residents questioned the report's validity because it used an incorrect figure.

The study said a unified district would gain 455 Camarillo students; the residents said at least 750 students would come into the district from Rio Mesa High School alone.

The Northern California lawyer representing the Pleasant Valley School District explained in her comments that the number was derived from subtracting 320 Oxnard residents who would leave Frontier High School should the district unify, and adding 775 Camarillo students from Rio Mesa High School.

The argument didn't convince Dolores "Val" Rains, who wrote, "That may look good on paper," but it doesn't assure adequate housing for the students.

Sol Chooljian didn't think interchanging students "like chess pieces" made for an equitable trade.

"The EIR chooses to disregard this reality," he wrote.

In any case, recent enrollment figures place the number even higher-as of Oct. 3, 879 Camarillo and 28 Somis students attended Rio Mesa, said Randy Winton, Oxnard Union High School District assistant superintendent.

Oxnard district superintendent Jody Dunlap said the report failed to outline the impacts to Frontier High, including the potential need for additional cafeteria space and athletic facilities.

Dunlap also said the report ignores students enrolled in the Oxnard adult education program at Camarillo Airport.

In her comments, Pleasant Valley School District attorney Marguerite Mary Leoni acknowledged the report must be

fixed to include the correct number of Rio Mesa students, the environmental effects of displaced Oxnard residents and students in the adult education program.

Leoni also wants the report to analyze the impact on traffic in Oxnard and Camarillo should the unification effort fail.

County agencies found the report lacking in regard to building a high school on 77 acres of farmland owned by the Oxnard district at Lewis and Las Posas roads. County Public Works wants the report to analyze how the high school would impact traffic, particularly along Highway 118 through Somis and at the Lewis/Las Posas intersection. The department also noted that the school district would be required to pay a $44,500 traffic mitigation fee.

The county Planning Division called for a more thorough environmental study of the effect the high school would have on surrounding agricultural operations; the Agricultural Commissioner's Office disagreed with the report's finding that a unified district would have no impact on surrounding farmland or zoning conflicts. The commission said impacts could be minimized through mitigation measures, however.

The County Committee on School District Organization could hand an early Christmas present to either side of the issue. In addition to determining whether the final EIR meets state requirements and completing a recommendation on unification-which will include such critical details as the size of a new district, the number of its trustees and its geographical voting boundaries-the committee is expected to decide at next month's meeting whether to put the issue before voters.

The matter may not be settled, however. The public can

appeal the decision on the grounds of racial imbalance and/ or the geographical voter area, and the affected school districts can reject the decision on virtually any item outlined in the unification petition, committee secretary Stan Mantooth said.