Ventura County Contests Shape Up as Filing for School Positions Ends

Filing closed Wednesday for candidates seeking election Nov. 3 in three eastern Ventura County school board races, including four of five seats in the Moorpark Unified School District.

In the Moorpark race, voters will elect three board members to four-year terms and fill the unexpired term of Dennis Hatlin, who resigned last spring.

The Moorpark district, one of the fastest-growing in the state, will open two elementary schools this fall. But the new board will have to continue scrambling for available state construction funds to keep pace with growth, district Supt. Michael E. Slater said.

“We’re already talking about what we have to do next year because we can’t stand still,” Slater said. “The challenge is keeping up with the fast growth of the city.”

25% More Students

This fall, the district expects about 3,900 kindergarten through 12th-grade students, an increase of 25% over last year, Slater said. With the two schools opening to accommodate elementary school students, the board must now look at expanding its 6th- through 8th-grade classrooms, he said.

The board will also have to reach an agreement with its teachers on a new salary contract this fall, Slater said. The previous contract expired July 1.

“It’s going to be a tough year for the board,” Slater said.

Running for four-year terms are incumbent Patty Waters, lawyer Stephen Anderson, former Moorpark City Councilman James Hartley, cable television manager Barbara A. Johnston, photographer Amado Reynoso, teacher Cynthia Hubbard-Dow, business manager Lindal (Lin) Graf and Tom Baldwin, who lists his occupation as research and development.

Running to fill the two years remaining of Hatlin’s term are current board member Carla A. Robertson and salesman James D. Stueck. Incumbent William J. McMahon is not seeking reelection.

3 Races in Conejo Valley

In the Conejo Valley Unified School District, voters will elect two board members to four-year terms and fill the unexpired term of Kate Cox, who resigned last spring. The district, which has a stable enrollment of about 17,500 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, encompasses Thousand Oaks and Newbury Park.

Running for four-year terms are incumbent Dolores Didio; Verne Bauman, an educational software designer, George Hatcher, a retired teacher, E. H. (Ed) Breitung, a retired teacher, and J. Frank Turner, a college professor.

Running for the two years remaining in Cox’s unexpired term are board member Ellyn Wilkins and Marjorie J. (Peggy) Kelly, a free-lance writer.

Voters in the Oak Park Unified School District, which covers a small part of the county east of Thousand Oaks, will elect two board members to four-year terms and one board member to a two-year term.

New Superintendent

The existing board on Monday hired Marilyn Harris Corey as its superintendent. Corey, formerly head of the Hermosa Beach Elementary School District, will begin work at the 1,000-student district Sept. 1, district officials said.

Running for four-year terms are Pat Manning, an appointed board member, and Jim Kalember, a personnel manager. Board member Patricia Kavulic is running against Diane Milavetz, a certified public accountant, for the two-year term. Incumbent Kathy Hueber is not seeking reelection.

Tom Ely, a board member of the Ventura County Community College District Area 4, representing Simi Valley, Moorpark and parts of Camarillo, will automatically serve a third term on that board because no other candidate filed for the office, the county registrar’s office said.