Boundary Plan Foes Threaten to Recall Board : Ventura: Parents offer alternatives to a proposal to decrease busing, lower transportation costs and let students attend school together from beginning to end.

In the last of a series of hearings Thursday on proposed school boundary changes in Ventura, a group of parents offered alternatives to the district’s controversial proposal and threatened to recall board members if they approve the district plan.

The alternatives were presented by parents of children at Poinsettia Elementary School on Victoria Avenue, which along with Saticoy Elementary School would be most heavily affected by the district plan. More than 200 parents attended the meeting at De Anza Middle School.

“Our No. 1 goal is to maintain neighborhood schools, at least at the elementary level,” said parent Christine Will.

One of the three alternatives presented to Ventura Unified School District administrators calls for closing Loma Vista Elementary School to regular classes.

Parent Dennis Horwitz argued that Loma Vista is under-used and that the financially strapped district, which is facing a $3.2-million deficit next year, can benefit by selling excess land at the site near the Buenaventura Mall.

The 123 Loma Vista children who live near the school would be reassigned to Poinsettia. Other special programs, including one for the hearing-impaired, would remain and be expanded.

The district’s proposal to transfer some Poinsettia students to Loma Vista, which is two miles away, caused an outcry from Poinsettia parents.

Another parent alternative called for readjusting attendance boundaries of other district elementary schools to increase enrollment at Loma Vista and streamline busing routes.

In a third alternative, the group suggested delaying any attendance boundary changes until plans for a new elementary school in eastern Ventura are approved.

Parent Carrie Broggie, echoing sentiments expressed by parents at the three previous hearings, called the district’s proposal unacceptable and asked board members not to approve it.

But Broggie went further, saying parents would mount a recall effort against the five-member board if they adopt the plan.

“If you have not heard anything else tonight, please hear this,” Broggie said. “We are requesting that you reject this proposal. . . . Should you choose to ignore these requests . . . there are a great deal of community members prepared to initiate a recall of the board members.”

Board members Vincent Ruiz, John Walker, May Lee Berry and Terence Kilbride were present, although they did not address parents. A panel of nine administrators outlined the plan for the audience.

“As elected officials,” Broggie told board members, “you are accountable to the majority. It cannot be denied that the majority is vehemently opposed to this proposal.”

Berry said the boundary issue is controversial, and parents may feel strongly about recalling the board if the plan is approved. “We’re talking about affecting their children.”

The goals of the district plan, first unveiled in January, include decreasing the total number of students who are bused, lowering transportation costs and allowing students to attend the same schools together from kindergarten through 12th grade.

To decrease busing overall, however, district officials estimate that 3,440 of the district’s 15,000 students would have to change schools.

Most of the parents who spoke at the four hearings have children in elementary schools. Many urged that the elementary school boundaries be left as they are so their children could remain in neighborhood schools.

“I want my kids to go to the best school that’s nearby,” said parent Bruce Englar. “That’s how we chose our home in our neighborhood.”

Some parents urged the district to scrap the plan and start from the beginning, this time bringing parents and other residents in at the start.

Poinsettia PTO President Cheryl Baldwin suggested that the district’s major problem is that Buena High School needs to be farther east.

She suggested building a new high school in eastern Ventura and possibly selling the Buena site, on Telegraph Road at Victoria Avenue, or using it as a middle school.

Ines Solis, whose children attend Serra Elementary School, said, “If this proposal is passed . . . it will be a big mistake, and the board of trustees will be known as the Saddam Hussein of education in Ventura County.”