Eight School Districts May Consolidate Services : Finances: Significant amounts of money could be saved, officials say. An outright merger is also being studied.

Pressured by elementary school districts to help them cut costs, the board of the Oxnard Union High School District agreed Wednesday to consider consolidating services with seven elementary school districts.

The board directed acting Supt. William G. Studt to explore the concept of merging school services with the seven elementary districts that feed students into the high school district, which stretches from Camarillo to Port Hueneme.

The board is also considering an independent study to determine the cost and financial benefits of unifying the eight districts.

In a report to the board Wednesday night, Studt said that all eight districts could save significant amounts of money by merging transportation, maintenance, food, purchasing and warehousing operations. But such a sharing of services would fall short of unifying the eight school districts.

The proposal to consolidate services was prompted in part by the Pleasant Valley and Oxnard Elementary school districts’ interest in annexing two high schools within their boundaries to create their own unified school systems.

Both elementary districts earlier this month hired a consultant to examine the effects of joining Oxnard High School with the Oxnard elementary district and Camarillo High with the Pleasant Valley district. Studt said that the elementary districts view such a merger as a bailout for their financial problems. Both districts’ economic problems have been aggravated by soaring student populations and their administrators recognize that high schools receive more state revenue per student than elementary schools.

“I think their agenda is to increase their revenues by taking high schools out of our district,” Studt said.

Oxnard Elementary Supt. Norman Brekke disagreed.

“I think there would be some financial benefit,” Brekke said. “But the most significant benefit would be to have common administration and common instruction for students in kindergarten through the 12th grade. I think that makes all the sense in the world.”

Brekke also said the Oxnard Union High School District should be broken up because it covers too large of a geographic area. Its 11,000 students attend six high schools in Oxnard, Camarillo and Port Hueneme.

Meanwhile, Pleasant Valley officials said they are not sure that forming a unified school district with Camarillo High School will actually generate more money.

“That’s why we’re doing the unification study,” Supt. Shirley F. Carpenter said. “It doesn’t just mean that money is up for grabs.”

Studt said losing two high schools would hurt his district financially and upset the racial balance of its student population. The district’s enrollment now is 31% white and 69% minority.

He said losing Camarillo High School would practically wipe out the high school district’s white student population.

Brekke and Carpenter said that their districts are also studying the possibility of absorbing smaller, neighboring elementary districts to cut down on administrative costs and duplication of services.

The unification studies, which are being conducted by Educational Research Consultants of Sacramento, are expected to be completed within the next two months.

Brekke and Carpenter said they would support consolidating services between the eight school districts, even if unification is not recommended by the consultants.

If the school districts decide to merge, they must first win approval of a majority of voters who live within the school districts’ boundaries. To qualify a unification measure for the ballot, proponents would have to collect the signatures of at least 10% of voters in each of the districts.

If voters backed the concept, unification would probably not take place for at least two years, Carpenter said.