Vote Delayed on Year-Round Schools : Education: The Ventura district decides to wait until after attendance boundaries have been resolved.

The board of the Ventura Unified School District voted Tuesday to delay a decision on whether 15 schools should remain on a traditional September-to-June calendar.

Although a poll showed that more than half the parents surveyed supported the shift to year-round schools in some form, the board decided to delay the vote until after a decision has been made on whether to change boundaries in the school district.

The vote to delay the decision was 3 to 2.

The survey, taken in January, showed that 54% of parents supported year-round schools, but of those, 15% wanted the schedule only if elementary and middle schools made the change. But 46% of parents surveyed said they preferred to stay on the traditional schedule.

Many parents at the meeting criticized how the survey was conducted, saying that parents at schools already on a year-round schedule were left out, that parents’ signatures were not required on the survey form, and that all teachers did not explain the questionnaires to students.

“If you’re going to affect the whole district, then the whole district needs to be surveyed,” said parent Diane Baker, who said the survey was poorly done.

In an interview before the meeting, Michael Sellwood, director of administrative services, said the level of unconditional support was about 39%.

Sellwood said he has spoken to principals at each of the 15 schools polled since the release of the survey to gather additional reaction on whether parents, staff and students want year-round schools.

“Each came back, based on the results and an evaluation of the conditional votes, with a recommendation to remain on the traditional calendar,” Sellwood said.

But some parents said at the meeting that too much weight had been placed on the principals’ recommendations.

Two Ventura elementary schools--E.P. Foster and Sheridan Way--adopted the year-round schedule last year after surveys of parents showed at least 70% support. Mound Elementary School has been on the year-round schedule for several years.

Also, Oak View and Arnaz elementary schools and De Anza Middle School will convert to the year-round calendar starting July 29 after separate parent surveys showed at least 65% of parents support it.

District officials raised the question of year-round schools at the same time a sweeping proposal to change school boundaries across the 15,000-student district was being considered.

Some parents have complained that considering the two major changes at the same time is unfair and confusing because of uncertainty over how one plan would affect the other.

Some school board members acknowledged that raising the two issues at the same time was not a good idea. Board member Barbara Myers said she had objected to the timing from the beginning.

While some parents have expressed doubts over whether children will benefit educationally from the year-round schedule’s shorter breaks, other parents have praised it and urged district officials to continue expanding the program, possibly on a limited or voluntary basis.

Sellwood said the issue will probably come up again.

“No matter how you interpret the numbers, there’s a significant number of people still in support of year-round,” Sellwood said. “I do not believe this is the final chapter.”