CAMARILLO : Middle-School Shift Discussions Planned

The Pleasant Valley School District board will hold preliminary discussions Thursday about shifting sixth-graders to junior high schools as a way to alleviate crowding at the Camarillo district’s elementary schools.

The board will hear a staff report about the educational benefits of converting two intermediate schools, Monte Vista and Los Altos, to middle schools that would accommodate students from sixth through eighth grades.

Monte Vista and Los Altos now hold only the seventh and eighth grades and school officials plan to weigh the estimated costs of transferring sixth-grade classes to these two schools, said Evelyn Gillespie, director of instructional programs.

The board began searching for more efficient ways to use their existing classroom buildings after voters in 1991 twice rejected proposed bond issues for school construction.

Last fall, the board considered putting the district on a year-round calendar to relieve crowding, but parent opposition derailed that proposal.

School officials last considered converting to middle schools several years ago, but nixed the idea because of the expected start-up costs, Gillespie said.

In addition to having to build new classrooms at the junior high schools, the district would have to spend an estimated $174,000 hiring additional teachers for the two schools, the staff report shows.