VENTURA : School Boundaries Plan Questioned

A proposed plan to redraw boundaries in the Ventura Unified School District came under intense questioning from school board members Tuesday, who asked administrators whether the financially strapped district could afford the plan and if 1992 is too soon to implement it.

Administrators told the board that transferring students could cost more than $150,000 for school expansions on the west side alone.

Board members also questioned whether a rule that could force students to choose high schools would make students choose between going to school with friends or with siblings.

Trustee Barbara Myers also asked whether a revision to the plan, which calls for some school boundaries to remain unchanged, could remain intact given dwindling enrollment in those areas.

The original boundary changes, unveiled in January, would have transferred 3,440 students to different schools to allow more children to attend schools closer to where they live. The plan was revised by a committee of nine district administrators after four public hearings at which parents, who were asked for comment, criticized the proposal.

A revised plan, presented to parents on Monday, would allow six elementary schools in the 23-school district to be exempt from the boundary changes. Students who are now assigned to Poinsettia, Loma Vista and Elmhurst elementary schools would continue to go to those schools.

The boundaries of Saticoy, Serra and Juanamaria elementary schools would remain the same for the next school year. But a committee of parents and staff members from those schools would meet with district officials in September to draw up their own boundaries. They would present a recommendation to the school board by January.

Administrators have suggested that the new boundaries be implemented beginning in September, 1992.

The board is scheduled to discuss the plan, and possibly schedule a date for a final vote, at next Tuesday’s school board meeting.