Oxnard High Year-Round Plan Heavily Criticized

Dozens of irate parents, students and teachers at Oxnard High School are putting increasing pressure on school officials to drop a proposal to switch to a year-round schedule next fall.

More than 75 people turned out at the school board’s meeting Wednesday night to protest the plan that would place the school on the new schedule as part of a two-year pilot program. The Oxnard Union High School District board also came under fire two weeks ago from another group of protesters.

One by one, parents testified Wednesday that a year-round calendar would disrupt their personal schedules, hinder the school’s athletic programs, and make it more difficult for students to seek employment or to participate in youth programs.

Most important, they said, there is little evidence to show that students perform better academically under a year-round schedule.

“I’m terrified,” said Grover Howe, a parent. “I’ve got two honor students at Oxnard High. The schedule they have now works for them.”

Brian Parra, a junior at the school, expressed the feelings of many of his classmates in the audience.

“I don’t want my days at Oxnard High to be an experiment,” he said. “I’m not a guinea pig.”

District officials tried to reassure parents and students that the schedule change is not a “done deal,” that they are simply exploring the idea and gathering information to help them make a decision.

“It’s not a slam-dunk,” Supt. Bill Studt said. “No decisions have been made. And there will not be any decision made until I’m satisfied that there has been adequate input from the community.”

But many parents said they are not getting the information they need from the district or Oxnard High Principal Rick Rezinas, who proposed the schedule change. Rezinas did not return phone calls Thursday.

Others said flyers that have been distributed to the school’s 2,000 students list only the benefits of a year-round schedule, without touching on the drawbacks.

Andrew McEuen, a former superintendent of the district who has two grandchildren attending Oxnard High, blasted school administrators for trying to push the plan through with little or no community involvement.

“Why is a program that is the brainchild of so few people trying to be ramrodded down the throats of thousands of people?” McEuen said. “This is the most fouled-up, botched-up program to try and sell to anybody, any time, anywhere.”

For the past year, administrators have been exploring ways to improve the academic achievements of students at each of the district’s six high schools, said Gary Davis, director of educational services.

The 12,000-student district recently qualified for a $600,000 state grant for some of the improvements or changes it has proposed, including adopting a new schedule at Oxnard High, Davis said. The grant will be distributed over a five-year period.

But Davis said the grant is not contingent on whether Oxnard High switches to a year-round schedule. “That would not have any effect” on the grant, he said.

Although acknowledging that there is no hard evidence to show that students perform better under a year-round schedule, Davis and other officials said they believe that it could help, especially low-achieving students.

Under a year-round schedule, students would generally be in class nine weeks and off three weeks.

Supporters of year-round schools argue that students retain information better because they no longer have a three-month summer break between grades. They also say it gives slow students a chance to catch up or receive extra help during the three-week breaks.

Oxnard High teachers and staff were surveyed last month about the possibility of changing to a new schedule, with 91 voting in favor and 31 against.

Davis said the school has sponsored community meetings on the year-round proposal. But several parents said Wednesday night that the meetings are not well publicized and that only a handful of people have attended.

District officials said there will be other opportunities for parents to express their views.

Studt said he plans to meet with Rezinas in the coming weeks to discuss the year-round schedule. He said he will decide then whether to make a recommendation to the school board.

Also Wednesday, the board approved a resolution to allow the use of hand-held metal detectors to search students at random for weapons. The district has already bought and received 18 metal detectors, which will be distributed evenly among the district’s six schools.

Studt told the board that administrators and staff members will begin training Tuesday with Oxnard police on how to properly use the devices. He said teachers will not be involved in searches, which will take place twice a day on each campus.

So far this year, 24 district students have been expelled for carrying knives, five for possessing handguns and one for possessing brass knuckles.

NEXT STEP

Oxnard High School administrators will continue to distribute information to parents and students about the proposed year-round schedule. Principal Rick Rezinas and district Supt. Bill Studt will meet in the next few weeks to decide whether a recommendation will be made to the school board to adopt the new schedule. If a recommendation is made, a public hearing will be held before a final decision is made.