Private schools may benefit from turmoil over closures
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Camarillo parents may decide to send their children to private schools if the Pleasant Valley School District closes three of its schools.

An advisory committee and district staff have said the district should close Camarillo Heights Elementary, Los Altos Middle and Los Primeros Structured schools. District officials said they'd use the money- about $1.5 million- to raise teachers' salaries and improve their benefits- among the lowest in the county.

Leigh Anne Tsuji had hoped her 4-year-old son, Kaden, could join his older brother at Camarillo Heights in the fall. But Tsuji is now considering enrolling them in private school or teaching them at home should the school close. She said she's afraid the district will send the boys to two different schools.

"I feel like it's going to be completely chaotic," she said.

Stacey Roth may also put her young sons in private school or transfer them to a school outside the district if Los Senderos Open School closes. She isn't convinced that the open philosophy, which advocates flexible teaching techniques that adapt to students' learning styles, will be continued at Rancho Rosal Elementary.

The district has proposed moving Los Primeros students to the Los Senderos campus and converting Rancho Rosal Elementary into an open magnet school. The kindergartenthrough-seventh-grade Los Senderos students could attend Rancho Rosal if there is space or go to a neighborhood middle school. Rancho Rosal would only go up to the fifth grade.

Roth said the open program wouldn't be the same at Rancho Rosal. The Los Senderos principal, who has decades of experience with the philosophy, and many of the teachers wouldn't be sent to Rancho Rosal, she said.

"It's really a smoke screen," Roth said of the proposal. "It's not really our school."

Other parents also are looking into school options.

Lory Selby, superintendent of the 600-student Cornerstone Christian Schools, said they've had inquires about enrollment recently from Pleasant Valley parents.

"There's just a lot of talk out in the community right now, so we're waiting to see what happens," Selby said.

Liz Loll is assistant principal of the historic St. Mary Magdalen School in Old Town. The kindergarten-to-eighth-grade school has an enrollment of 280 students.

"It's not unusually different this year," Loll said.

Carden School Principal Michelle Hatch said although they've had more requests for information and tours lately, she couldn't say if it's related to the district possibly closing schools. The private school, located about a half mile south of Camarillo Heights, has an enrollment of 140 students from preschool to eighth grade.