SIMI VALLEY : Ashton Retires From School Board

Kenneth Ashton can begin worrying about something other than the merits of a middle school system, building a high school stadium and approving field trips.

After serving for 21 years, Ashton retired Tuesday from the Simi Valley Unified School District Board of Education.

“It’s been a great experience. I’ve been frustrated, torn, cussed and discussed, but I tried not to take it personally,” Ashton said shortly before his final meeting as a board member.

Ashton, 61, a retired banker whose five children graduated from Simi Valley High School, was honored at the meeting by the school district and other government agencies.

“When teachers talk about Ken Ashton, the thing you hear over and over is that he is honest and he really cares about kids,” Peggie Noisette, president of the Simi Educators Assn., said as she handed him a plaque.

Ashton said before the meeting that that highlights on the school board include forming the nearby Oak Park Unified School District in 1977, approval of the middle school system beginning next fall and securing funds for construction of a stadium at Royal High School.

With his departure, support for the reconfiguration plan may be waning. Debbie Sandland, who won election to the school board by opposing the middle school plan, would provide the swing vote if the issue were brought to a vote again. Ashton is one of three board members who previously voted in favor of the plan.

“I will be disappointed if reconfiguration fails,” he said. “I understand the concerns that have been raised, but unless I’m very wrong, everything I have read indicates it’s a better program for the kids.”

Ashton, who run unsuccessfully for mayor of Simi Valley last month, said he has no qualms about leaving in the midst of such a controversial issue.

“If it weren’t this issue, it would be something else,” he said.

He said he wants to devote more time to volunteer work for his church and community, but he and his wife are considering moving to Utah to care for her ailing mother.

In the meantime, he will adjust to a schedule that won’t include reading lengthy school board packets and addressing his constituents’ concerns.

“It’ll be different,” he said. “I’ll probably have some things to say in the future, but I’ll be saying it as a taxpayer and a citizen.”