OXNARD : School District Rejects Merger Plan

Trustees for the Oxnard elementary school district voted at a special meeting Tuesday to end any consideration of merging with the Oxnard Union High School District, saying they were unwilling to shoulder the high school district’s large long-term debt.

“The debt of the high school district is so heavy it outweighs all the positive advantages of a (kindergarten through 12th-grade) community school district,” said elementary district trustee Jack Fowler.

Referring to the high school district’s $41.5-million long-term debt, Fowler questioned whether the decision to acquire the debt was practical or “swallowing a giant poison pill in case somebody wanted to unify their district.”

Although Fowler abstained from the 3-1 vote that ended the inquiry into merging the two districts, he blamed the outcome of the vote on the high school district’s finances. “The high school district has moved ahead with building two schools with no better plan to finance them than to borrow and borrow again, hoping the state would save them,” he said.

Terry McHenry, a Sacramento education consultant, told the trustees that almost all of the high school district’s long-term debt must be paid out of general fund revenues. By contrast, 90% of the elementary district’s $21.5 million in long-term debt will be retired by bonds already approved by voters.

Trustee Chuck Johnson was the only board member to argue that the district should still pursue a possible merger, despite the long-term debt. “It will take a joint effort by all seven feeder elementary districts to make this work,” Johnson said.

A possible merger was also opposed by representatives of the district’s employee unions and the Oxnard elementary district’s Educational Foundation.

Supt. Norman R. Brekke of the elementary district said he reluctantly opposed the merger because of the possible threat to classroom funding. “If the information is accurate, those who will suffer most will be our children,” he said.

Supt. Bill Studt of the high school district criticized what he called the rhetoric of the elementary district’s trustees. “They were looking at revenue issues to see how much revenue would flow into their coffers,” he said.

Studt said he will call a meeting of the seven elementary district heads to discuss future consolidation.