CineMagic broadens membership
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com

All kindergartenthrougheighth-grade children in Camarillo public schools can now participate in CineMagic, a Broadway-like production.

Earlier this month, the board of directors for the Pleasant Valley Education Foundation, a nonprofit sponsor of fine arts and technology education, changed the foundation's mission statement to include all Camarillo public school students, instead of serving only students in the Pleasant Valley School District.

CineMagic is one of the foundation's programs.

But the school board challenged the new wording at last week's meeting, reminding foundation President Greg Glover of the district's involvement in securing "seed money" for the foundation.

In 2001, Pleasant Valley officials arranged for a developer and local businesses to contribute more than $540,000 to the foundation. Originally called the Camarillo Foundation for Educational Enhancement, the foundation was established in 1985 but went dormant several years later. The name was changed in 1998.

The school board also expressed concern that the seed money won't be used exclusively for Pleasant Valley students.

Trustee Sandra Berg said that with Glover as foundation president and a board member of the newly opened charter school, the Camarillo Academy of Progressive Education, there could be a conflict of interest. Glover's children attend the charter school.

Earlier this year, several families whose children attended the district's Los Senderos Open School launched the charter school after talk of school closures and program restructuring.

In June, Pleasant Valley closed two schools and moved the 30year-old Los Senderos open program to another campus.

Glover said that the foundation's books are open to public examination.

"The bottom line is it's about the kids, and we didn't want to eliminate any kids," Glover told the board. z Earlier this week, foundation officials said that although only a small amount of seed money remains, it will be spent only on Pleasant Valley students.

"We can say without a doubt, none of the money has been spent on people outside of Pleasant Valley School District," said foundation Secretary Jonathan Novick.