Districts See Money in Growth : Schools: Enrollments have risen in Oak Park, Moorpark and other areas, bringing in more state revenue--about $700,000 in one case.

Schools in fast-growing Oak Park and Moorpark show the greatest increases in student enrollment among Ventura County school districts so far this year, according to preliminary figures.

District statistics comparing the number of students this fall and last fall show that Oak Park’s enrollment has increased 13% and Moorpark’s 11%. At Ojai Unified School District, enrollment is up 5%, and the Pleasant Valley district in Camarillo has surged 4%.

Countywide, however, enrollment in most school districts has remained the same or increased only sightly.

More students can eventually mean more state revenue for a school district--although much of the increased revenue must go toward salaries and other expenses.

Stanley Mantooth, Oak Park’s director of facilities and business operations, said the district will receive $3,158.10 per student in state revenue. So far, there are 217 more students this year than at the same time last year, which could mean about $700,000 to the district.

Peter Rogalsky, superintendent of the Rio Elementary School District, said his district has seen an increase of about 70 students, to a total of 2,575.

“It’s an advantage to be in a growing district,” Rogalsky said. “Our budget is based on a certain number of students, and if we increase by more students than that, then our income is greater, which is a plus.”

Rogalsky said the district had projected the growth and had already hired three teachers.

Although school officials in Moorpark and Oak Park had predicted the increases, the 5% surge in the number of Ojai students caught school officials by surprise, said Supt. Andrew Smidt of the Ojai Unified School District.

“We had projected some growth, but we’ve experienced more growth than what we thought we would have,” Smidt said.

He said the district would be able to accommodate the additional 182 students because it has hired four teachers this year and added one high school class and three elementary classes.

School officials also said enrollment figures may change as the school year continues. Some students don’t show up until class is already several weeks under way, officials said.

“There are still some stragglers we don’t know about,” said Kenneth Marschick, personnel director of the Pleasant Valley district.

School officials cautioned that it is still too early in the school year to determine how enrollment changes may affect state revenue. The amount of money schools get from the state is based not on enrollment but on average daily attendance, or the average number of students in class throughout the year.

At the Santa Paula Elementary School District, enrollment was up by six students, from 3,158 on the seventh day of the 1989 school year to 3,164 this year.

Enrollment remains fairly steady at some of the county’s smaller districts, including Santa Clara, Somis, Briggs and Mupu, officials at those districts said.

One of the county’s largest districts, the 18,000-student Conejo Valley Unified School District, has registered few significant changes so far this year, Assistant Supt. Sarah Hart said.

In smaller districts, even minor enrollment increases can make a difference.

The Mesa Union School District is up 20 students to 361 so far this year, officials said. The increase could mean an additional $50,000 or more in state revenue to the district, said Tammy McCracken, business manager of the Ventura County Schools Business Authority, which provides business services to Mesa Union and three other small districts.

“That would ease things up a little bit and allow us to fund programs we’ve been trying to figure out how to fund,” said McCracken, who said the money could provide leeway in transportation and food services budgets.

In the Simi Valley and Ventura Unified districts, enrollment has grown slightly, according to attendance figures.

Although Ventura’s overall enrollment is close to projections, the problem has been unexpected changes at elementary schools, including a 40-student drop at Oak View Elementary and a 46-student increase at Blanche Reynolds Elementary, said Michael Sellwood, director of administrative services.

Overall, the number of elementary students is up by 125, Sellwood said. “We are going out to hire additional teachers to meet that need,” he said.

ENROLLMENT FIGURES

Preliminary enrollment figures for some Ventura County school districts

% Increase 1989-90 1990-91 (Approx.) Oak Park Unified 1,542 1,759 13% Moorpark Unified 4,827 5,378 11% Ojai Unified 3,368 3,550 5% Pleasant Valley 6,203 6,466 4% Ventura Unified 14,347 14,612 2% Oxnard Union High 11,135 11,341 2% Oxnard Elementary 12,008 12,169 1.3% Simi Valley Unified 17,995 18,120 1%