Simi Board Rescinds Middle School Plan : Reconfiguration: The 3-to-2 vote comes after several speakers voice support for the change.

Simi Valley school board members on Tuesday narrowly voted to rescind a plan to create middle schools in the district.

About 150 people attended the meeting at Simi Valley City Hall, and more than two dozen of them spoke before the vote.

“It’s an extremely grievous loss for our kids,” board member Doug Crosse said of the 3-to-2 vote.

However, board member Carla Kurachi, who voted against the reconfiguration plan, said the board needs to address other issues, such as a lack of high school counselors and the need for computers in the classrooms.

“It’s time to move on,” she said. “There are higher priorities than reconfiguration.”

Under the rejected plan, elementary schools would have included kindergarten through fifth grade, middle schools would have accommodated grades six through eight and high schools would have housed nine through 12. Now, elementary schools include kindergarten through sixth grades, junior high schools are seventh through ninth grades, and high schools are 10 through 12.

At a school board meeting earlier this month, district officials said it would cost about $550,000 in one-time facility costs and about $426,000 annually to implement middle schools.

Voting to rescind implementation of middle schools were Diane Collins, Kurachi and Debbie Sandland, who is the newest member of the board.

Last December, the school board voted 3 to 2 to reconfigure the Simi Valley Unified School District beginning next fall. Board members Judy Barry, Crosse and Ken Ashton voted for it, while board members Collins and Kurachi voted against it.

With the retirement of Ashton earlier this month and the swearing-in Tuesday night of Sandland, who strongly opposes reconfiguration, the future of the plan was put into jeopardy.

Sandland, 38, who gathered the most votes in November’s election, ran a vigorous campaign against creating middle schools, arguing that the district does not have the money for the program. She has said her victory equated to a mandate from the community.

Most of those who spoke before the vote Tuesday were in favor of the middle schools.

“Reconfiguration has fallen victim to politics and personal agendas,” said Janice DiFatta, whose two children would be affected by the plan. “It’s caused chaos with school planning, parent planning and student planning.”

According to a recent survey of 1,450 of the district’s 1,892 employees, nearly 65% said they favor the plan to create middle schools.

Simi Valley is one of the few districts in the county without a middle school program, which supporters say allows the grouping of students to more closely match physical, emotional and intellectual development.

Under reconfiguration, Simi Valley High School would have to absorb 800 additional students and Royal High School an additional 650 students. Simi Valley High now has about 2,000 students and Royal High about 1,700.

The issue has divided students, parents and community members, and Barry, who was elected board president Tuesday night, said the elected officials need to help mend the rift.

“We have to be leaders in pulling the community back together. It’s torn apart right now,” Barry, 49, said before the meeting. “That’s my No. 1 concern, because until that’s done, we can’t accomplish much.”