Keep Camarillo Heights open

I am writing you with regard to the proposed closure of Camarillo Heights elementary school. The closure would not only be detrimental to the community as a whole, but would place children at risk daily.

The crossing of Las Posas Road in three different locations twice a day is an awful risk for a school district to take. In fact, I believe it is fair to say that it is a lawsuit in the making. Children as young as 5 would be asked to cross one of the busiest thoroughfares in Camarillo.

Clearly, your staff did not think this particular scenario through entirely or is comfortable with their own school-aged children taking the risk of being hit by speeding motorists on a busy street.

Another problem with the proposed scenario is that it leaves the entire area north of Las Posas without a school for students to attend.

Camarillo has a proud tradition of not only providing its families with educational choices, but also providing them with neighborhood schools. Neighborhood schools help to foster a community which values its children and their education within an environment that is familiar and safe to all concerned parties.

What a shame it would be to disregard one of the reasons Camarillo schools are thought so highly of countywide.

Your consideration of what is in the best interest for the children of our district can only lead you to conclude that the closure of Cam Heights and the reassignment of its students to other schools would be a mistake of catastrophic proportion. Suzanne Dempsey Camarillo