Los Primeros supporters upset over district's restructuring plan
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Los Primeros Structured School parents know the difference a word makes.

Some parents said the school board abolished a 30-year success story and erased the distinction of the Los Primeros program when it voted to change the school's name.

The Pleasant Valley school board's action on March 29, which changed the school's designation from "structured" to "magnet" and opened enrollment to neighborhood students has upset some Los Primeros parents.

"We're not a true alternative school because right now priority is given to neighborhood (children)," said parent Dianne Glick.

The school board also voted to close Los Senderos Open School in the fall and relocate Los Primeros to its campus.

Glick said giving neighborhood children priority over families who knowingly select the school based on what it has to offer could eventually weaken the 30-year-old program.

"We want parents to come to our school based on the program, philosophy and rules and everything else Los Primeros has, not because of its location (or) because its convenient." Glick said. "They're changing the whole essence of Los Primeros."

The board's action also dismantled the school's parent-majority steering committee, replacing it with a school site council. The steering committee has more input on school matters than a site council, weighing in on such matters as school discipline policies, parent complaints, the selection of textbooks and other learning materials, hiring teachers and administrators, said Glick, the steering committee chair.

"If the parents get behind it, it will work well," said interim Superintendent Ken Moffett. "Everything else is intact."

Glick and Janni Fang, other Los Primeros parents, said they're not opposed to neighborhood students attending their kindergarten-through-eighth-grade school, as is the case with some current students, but they want students to continue entering through the lottery system. That would serve two purposes: it ensures that families heartily endorse the school's philosophy and students who live elsewhere in Camarillo would have the same chance at enrollment as those who live close by.

"You are making a statement that you agree with the philosophy," said Fang of the lottery system. "You are accepting it and actually embracing it."

Los Primeros students and their parents sign a contract agreeing that the student will complete homework assignments, adhere to a dress code and other school requirements.

Parents have traditionally had a strong voice in the operation of Los Primeros. They founded the school, which opened in 1976, wanting a more structured environment- a school that demanded higher academic, dress and behavioral standards from students.

Glick said most Los Primeros parents nonetheless accept the changes and want to move forward.