OXNARD : High School District Budget Is Approved

The Oxnard Union High School District approved on Wednesday a $66.7-million budget that includes more than $8 million to buy land for a new high school.

The budget for the upcoming school year represents a 21% increase or about $11.4 million more than this year’s budget.

“We’re not seeing any significant changes in the new budget, except for the school building fund,” Business Manager Bob Brown said.

The 1990-91 budget sets aside about $8.4 million to purchase a 50-acre site at Oxnard Boulevard and Gonzales Road and to develop architectural plans for the new school.

The state Department of Education has agreed to finance the project and will reimburse the district for costs associated with acquiring, designing and constructing the new building, Brown said.

The new budget includes money to hire up to eight additional teachers to accommodate an increase in the number of students expected to enroll in the district next year, Brown said.

The 11,000-student district is expected to grow by 200 students next year, he said.

School board members tentatively approved plans to develop a Head Start Program at Hueneme High School. Final board approval hinges on whether Child Development Resources of Ventura County, which administers the Head Start program, receives a $442,339 state grant to open a new site at Hueneme High School. The state is expected to announce its decision next month.

The money will be used to build portable classrooms and an office in front of the 2,000-student high school. If the project is approved, the program could begin as early as January.

Child Development Resources, which operates five Head Start centers countywide, hopes to serve 60 children at the proposed Hueneme site. About 640 children in Ventura County participate in the program.

Officials project that about 1,800 students in areas of Port Hueneme and Oxnard near the high school could be eligible for the eight-month program.

Head Start, established in 1965, provides a half-day program for low-income children and their families. Emphasis is placed on helping the children function better in regular school programs by providing them with social, emotional, physical and academic support.