As district enrollment drops, charter school figures on the rise
CAPE may draw more students away from district
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

Based on district enrollment numbers reported by the California Department of Education's website, some Camarillo residents are questioning claims made by Pleasant Valley School District officials of declining enrollment over the last few years.

State and local district officials say the rising enrollment figure attributed to the kindergartenthrougheighthgrade district includes the increasing number of students who are attending CSU Channel Islands for University Preparation School, known as University Prep, and its sister school, University Charter Middle School.

University Prep opened in 2002, while the charter middle school opened in 2006.

Although the two charter schools have enjoyed a nearly 50 percent increase in students over the past four years, the Pleasant Valley School District is in fact losing students.

Education experts say residents may be confused by the way the state department reports the numbers. To report enrollment, the state uses two different programs, DataQuest and Ed-Data, on its website.

While the two programs report identical enrollment figures, the DataQuest system shows how those numbers are broken down by individual schools and that University Prep elementary and the charter middle school are driving up enrollment numbers for Pleasant Valley.

"What I think is confusing here is that the larger number included the districtapproved charter school," said Luis Villegas, Pleasant Valley School District interim superintendent. "The big debate here is what number is the real number, and the real number is the one we can get revenue on."

Student enrollment figures for a school district are important because districts receive state money based on the number of students they serve.

Fewer students mean less money paid to schools, which results in program and service cuts.

Declining enrollment contributed to the Pleasant Valley School District closing three schools in June.

Tina Jung, a state department of education spokesperson, outlined the problems the state faces in receiving an accurate and timely enrollment count.

She said that students are moving in and out of schools throughout the state all year long, making enrollment a constantly changing number.

Jung said the state lacks the resources to count the 1.3 million California students itself and needs to rely on school districts for the figures it posts.

And that daily roll call taken at local schools is sent to the state only three times a year because of the logistical log jam it would create, she said.

"We know a lot of the information on DataQuest is incorrect, and we've known it for years," Jung said. "Let me put it this way- whatever figures we have online are the best figures we have."

Villegas said recent school closures in the district have probably added to the confusion over enrollment. In June, Pleasant Valley closed Los Primeros Structured School, Los Altos Middle School and Los Senderos Open School.

The closures were more of an effort to operate an efficient district than they were a response to waning enrollment, he said.

Are charter schools a threat to traditional schools?

California has more than 600 charter schools, serving about 220,000 students. Every year about 80 new charter schools open, according to reports.

Linda Ngarupe, superintendent and principal of both university charter schools, said although they take some students away from Pleasant Valley, about 40 percent of their population comes from outside the district, which fits in with the school's mission of diversity.

"We value the diversity that that brings into our school," Ngarupe said. "It offers a different perspective for our students, and I think it's great."

Ngarupe said they anticipate an enrollment of 400 students in elementary and 190 at the middle school come fall.

A group of Los Senderos parents, upset that Pleasant Valley closed their school, organized the Camarillo Academy for Progressive Education, known as CAPE, and expect it to open Sept. 5.

Enrollment is at 330 students, and many classrooms are full, said Chris Parker, an academy founder.

"I wouldn't call CAPE a threat" to Pleasant Valley, Parker said. "CAPE is an alternative."

The city is growing, and Pleasant Valley and charter schools will probably grow too, Parker said.

Although the academy organizers plan to move to a larger campus in the future to accommodate more students, the families don't want a large school, Parker said.

He said the academy officials plan to keep enrollment around 470, the size of Los Senderos.

"We want to be small enough so we can have a unique education experience," he said.

Gary Larson, spokesperson for the 400-member California Charter School Association, said the state has room for both traditional and charter schools.

"The important thing here is having options and making sure all our public schools are good public schools," Larson said. "It's not a case of either/or; charter schools are public schools."

He said that because charter schools are more flexible than traditional schools, which are bound by a stricter education code set by the state, teachers tend to develop more innovative instruction techniques at charter schools.

As a result, he said, charter schools emerge as a research and development arm for education.

To combat the high dropout rate, traditional public schools are beginning to replicate successful programs found at charter schools and move away from the one-size-fits-all approach, he said.

But Larson does see a future for traditional public schools.

"The public school system is going to become charter-like," he said, "where parents have access to a wide variety of choices, and teachers have flexibility to innovate at the local-school level, and public schools are held accountable for how students are learning instead of how (well) they conform to an education code that's way too thick."

Asked if charter schools threaten Pleasant Valley's future, Villegas said they're an option that he supports for parents.

Charter schools aren't something he frets about, Villegas said.

The district provides solid programs, as evidenced by the families who live outside of Camarillo but want their children to attend Pleasant Valley schools, he said.

"I believe strongly the Pleasant Valley School District has a strong program," Villegas said. "If all the students are leaving our district, clearly we would lose that revenue; our task is to provide a quality program so students will stay with us."

Enrollment numbers for Pleasant Valley School District

Enrollment numbers for CSU Channel Islands for University Preparation School

*Beginning with the 200203 school year, figures include students enrolled at CSU Channel Islands University Preparation School, the charter elementary school, which opened that year.

**This figure includes students at both the charter elementary and middle schools. University Preparation Middle School opened in 2006.