Unification not feasable right now

While Pleasant Valley School District languishes with board leadership that lacks any ability to strategically plan, officials still insist on moving forward with an illconceived, irrational and illogical ideology of unify at all costs.

This board, and I've experienced it firsthand, always has a hidden agenda for the actions they take. School closures under the guise of teacher raises when that is code for "close Los Primeros to fund Los Altos High." Having two reports submitted to the State Board of Education and each author refusing to say how they were paid, is the kind of clandestine action I would expect from the school board of trustees. To quote trustee Ron Speakman, "Unification is the single most important issue this community faces." Not your children, not the teacher, not education, but unification.

It's interesting Jacqueline Brownlee, a consultant, denies writing her report submitted to the state. One would think 26 pages and a signature would be hard to deny. Presumably bought and paid for by our district's dollars in some roundabout fashion, I'm sure it contains the same level of manufactured data our district has presented to the county and state. With a reduction of approximately 500 students, the reports submitted, even if done correctly, are not a representation of our district's fiscal status.

We know now that the information is incorrect in the studies. The amount will be less than $6 million in the new district revenue. We know that a 1 percent salary increase for the entire district is $350,000. This is information presented from district staff. If the staff gets a 15 percent raise, the percentage needed to have the higher of the two salary schedules would be $5.25 million.

There are other numbers that are missing from those studies. Adolfo Camarillo High School special education is underestimated by $1.2 million. ACHS cafeteria operates at a $200,000 negative each year. There is no transportation cost involved. PVSD special education was underestimated.

Couple this with leaving four grades at RMHS at $1.2 million per level. After taking out 85 percent for salary and benefits, the first year the district would lose $720,000; year two, $540,000; year three, $360,000; and year four, $180,000.

Based on these numbers, in the first year of unification, the district will have expenses of $7.1 million. Even if the district uses the $6 million number, it is still short $1,170,200. At year five, the district will still be $450,000 in the red.

Joel Kirshenstein's report is also a mystery. While the consultant claims this type of report is a specialty of his, he declines to claim any payment by PVSD. Consultants often submit reports for free, don't they? Kirshenstein also attended a meeting with Larry Shirey before the State Board of Education with Superintendent Luis Villegas. Why are our superintendent and our property consultant spending time in Sacramento?

This board and the citizens associated with "Camarillo Unified" have consistently demonstrated their lack of understanding and the depth of a structural change to our district that could negatively impact education in Camarillo for generations. Our school district needs to focus on kindergartentoeighthgrade students. The school board should leave the allconsuming distraction of unification off the dais and away from administrators. John Alamillo Camarillo