THOUSAND OAKS : School Board Rejects Open-Classes Plan

A plan to establish open classrooms in the Thousand Oaks area was turned down Thursday by school board members who said it would cost too much.

A parent group called Choice for Open Individual Classroom Education (CHOICE) urged the Conejo Valley Unified School District to initiate the program, which is based on the concept of letting children learn at their own pace.

They proposed four classrooms that would have accommodated 125 students from kindergarten through the eighth grade.

In Ventura County, there are open alternative schools in Camarillo and Ventura.

School district officials estimated that it would cost at least $350,000 to start an open alternative school at Horizon Hills Elementary School, plus another $400,000 to $500,000 a year for personnel and operating costs.

School board members and parents vowed to pursue the idea.

“I would like to see your program happen,” said board President Richard Newman.

“I think by stretching our imaginations, we could fit something in somewhere.”

The district would gain $80,000 annually from the state for students who now attend school outside the district.

The district, which serves Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Westlake, is facing a budget deficit of $3.8 million for the 1991-92 school year.