CONEJO VALLEY : Parents, Students Criticize School Cuts

About 400 parents and students turned out Thursday night to protest cuts being discussed by the Conejo Valley Unified School District. The district is considering laying off 22 teachers and at least 61 janitors, clerks and other non-teaching employees.

District staff has recommended cutting $3.6 million from a $70.7-million proposed budget.

More cuts would have been necessary if the district had not carried over $2.8 million in reserves. The district serves Thousand Oaks, Newbury Park and Westlake.

“I know these cuts are hard to make, but we’re lopping off our own fingers and toes,” said Newbury Park High School activities director Jack Doman, who spoke on a recommendation to reduce health workers’ hours at the four intermediate schools. “This could mean the difference between full recovery and disability, or a relieved parent and a lawsuit.”

Under the proposal considered Thursday night by the school board, the district’s four-person curriculum department would be dissolved, leaving the duties of planning school work for the district’s 17,000 students to other administrators.

The board will vote on the proposed cuts at a May 9 meeting.

Budget woes are also affecting sports. District staff has considered cutting five coaching positions--golf, freshman/sophomore boys’ soccer, freshman boys’ and freshman girls’ basketball and freshman girls’ volleyball--at each of the three high schools. In addition, Westlake High Football Coach Jim Benkert and the school’s basketball coach, Gary Grayson, received layoff notices.

Their positions would be filled by a teacher with more seniority.

Supt. William Seaver said the cuts will be very difficult to make. “Whatever we do will have an effect on people,” he said. However, he said, “we must have a balanced budget.”

The budget assumes that the district will receive no cost-of-living increase from the state, that lottery funds will remain low and that fees the county has levied on school districts for property tax collection will continue.