Increases in Enrollment Take Schools by Surprise : Education: Much of the growth is in the lower grades. Some cutbacks in teaching positions have been reversed.

Two weeks into the new academic year, Ventura County schools are scrambling to hire more teachers, even out class sizes and find space for unexpected students.

Mirroring a statewide trend, enrollments are increasing this year in many of the county’s school districts, in some cases faster than school officials anticipated.

“We’re bulging at the seams,” said Supt. Pete Rogalsky of the Rio Elementary School District. Compared to last September, enrollment in the small district is up by 72 students, to 2,667, he said. The district has an average of 280 students per grade in grades three through eight, but there are about 330 first-grade students and about 340 students in second grade.

In a number of districts, officials say, most of the growth is at the kindergarten through third-grade level. As younger students enter the system, that means more money for schools over time, officials say. Because state funding is based on the number of students attending school, additional enrollment means an increase in a district’s revenue.

“We can accommodate all the children this year, but our schools are all filled up,” Rogalsky said. “We have no extra classrooms.”

At the district’s Rio Lindo Elementary School last week, two third-grade classes were above district limits of 31 students. As of Monday, six of the students will be bused from Rio Lindo to El Rio Elementary, about five minutes away.

“I’m very glad they move them as quickly as they can,” said Rio Lindo teacher Eleanor Syrett, whose third-grade class was reduced from 35 to 31 students. Though the class is still large, she said, the reduction will allow her to spend more time with each of her students.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District in Thousand Oaks has 423 more students than it had last September, bringing the district’s enrollment to 17,520 and reversing a 10-year decline, said Supt. William R. Seaver. More than half the growth has been at elementary schools, which are about 98% full, he said.

Although 22 teaching positions were cut last spring, 14 of the jobs have been restored because of the additional students, Seaver said.

Increased birth rates and students leaving private schools for public schools because of the lingering recession have contributed to the growth, Seaver said.

In the Oak Park Unified School District, enrollment is up by 12.3%, bringing the district total to 1,975.

“We were a little bit surprised,” said business director Stanley Mantooth. Officials had expected recent growth rates to level off this year, he said, but “there were probably some preschoolers out there we didn’t know about.”

School officials cautioned that enrollments may change as the school year continues, because some parents don’t enroll their children until several weeks into the school year. In the Rio district, for example, enrollment figures include an additional 180 students who have shown up since the first day of school.

Schools receive funding from the state based on the number of students attending on an average day, so more students mean more money.

In the Conejo Valley district, for example, which receives about $3,049 a year in state funds for every student, unexpected enrollment could mean as much as $800,000 a year in added revenue, Seaver said. But much of that extra funding is used to hire additional teachers and to equip classrooms, district officials said.

Even in Ojai, where the city has restricted development, enrollment has increased by 384 students over the past five years--and by 108 students since last year--bringing the total enrollment of the Ojai Unified School District to 3,681, said Supt. Andrew Smidt.

One reason for the growth, in addition to higher birth rates, may be that older couples are moving out and selling their homes to younger families with school-age children, Smidt said.

Despite the increasing numbers of students, officials must keep class sizes within contract limits set in negotiations with teacher unions.

However, class sizes will rise in some districts. Middle school classes in Ventura, for example, have about 33 students per class.

In the Moorpark Unified School District, officials have tried to keep classes at 30 students or less. But enrollment has increased by 4.9% to 5,549 students so far this year, so about 20 classes will exceed the district goal, officials said.

In Santa Paula, trustees of the elementary school district have approved larger classes, but district and school officials are still negotiating the amount of the increase.

Some school districts, including some of the county’s smallest, are about the same size so far this year, with increases or decreases of 1% or less. Those districts are Somis Union, Mesa Union, Santa Paula Union High, Santa Paula Elementary, Hueneme Elementary, Mupu Elementary, Santa Clara Elementary, Briggs Elementary and Ocean View Elementary.

In the Oxnard Union High School District, 11,588 students were enrolled last week--77 more than last school year for an increase of less than 1%. But officials project that the rolls will swell to 11,743, or about 2%, by next month.

Enrollment in Oxnard’s year-round elementary schools has increased by about 1.7% so far this year, from 12,127 to 12,338, a school official said.

Across the state, the number of children entering public schools will continue to rise, officials say.

In 1990, Ventura County had about 113,000 schoolchildren--or nearly one of every six county residents. By the year 2000, the number of schoolchildren in the county will rise by about 32%, to 149,600 students, according to state Department of Finance estimates.

This year, average enrollment in Ventura County is up by less than 2% so far, according to school district estimates. Statewide, enrollment has increased by an estimated 198,000 students, or about 4%.

The steady growth emphasizes the statewide need for new schools, officials say. Despite the passage of a $600-million state bond measure for new schools in 1990, state educators estimate the current need for funds for new schools at $1 billion.

In Camarillo’s Pleasant Valley Elementary School District, where a $75-million bond measure failed last June, officials are placing a $55-million measure on the Nov. 5 ballot to raise money for a new elementary school, buy land for three other schools and fix up existing schools.

The Oxnard Union High School and Ventura Unified districts are also considering bond measures for future elections.

But so far this year, Ventura County school districts have found room for the extra students.

The Moorpark district opened a new elementary school this fall, Arroyo West. The Conejo Valley district is using extra classrooms at some elementary schools. And 10 new classrooms added to Oxnard’s Rose Avenue Elementary School are in use this year.

Portable classrooms are also increasingly necessary on many campuses.

At year-rounP. Foster Elementary in Ventura, three new double-wide trailers, approved as an emergency measure by the school board last spring, have been installed, said Principal Greg Kampf. The school’s enrollment increased by about 42 students, or about 8%, to 570 this year, he said.

There are now six portable buildings on the campus, and by next year, when E. P. Foster’s enrollment is expected to hit 600, another will be needed, Kampf said.

“We’re crowded,” Kampf said. “We haven’t even begun to discuss what we’re going to do next year.”

Preliminary School Enrollment Figures

Approx. Increase in 1990-91 1991-92 % Increase students Oak Park Unified 1,758 1,975 12.3% 217 Moorpark Unified 5,291 5,549 4.9% 258 Pleasant Valley Elem. 6,476 6,713 3.6% 237 Ojai Unified 3,573 3,681 3.0% 108 Conejo Valley Unified 17,097 17,520 2.5% 423 Fillmore Unified 3,322 3,405 2.5% 83 Rio Elementary 2,595 2,667 2.8% 72 Simi Valley 18,216 18,566 1.9% 350 Ventura Unified 15,325 15,602 1.8% 277

Source: School districts