THOUSAND OAKS : 3 Assistant Librarian Positions Reinstated

Thousand Oaks school officials have reinstated the positions of three high school assistant librarians previously eliminated to balance next year’s $75-million budget, but no cuts have yet been identified to offset the added expense.

The board of the Conejo Valley Unified School District on Thursday reconsidered a portion of the cuts made May 13, after board members Dolores Didio and Dorothy Beaubien said they felt they were rushed into approving last-minute changes recommended by Supt. Bill Seaver.

“When we took three (assistant librarians) out of the high schools completely, I thought we made a mistake,” Beaubien said at Thursday’s meeting.

The board voted 3 to 2 to keep the assistant librarians at Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake high schools, but their hours will be scaled back from five to 3 3/4 a day to eliminate health benefits for those positions.

With those positions partly restored, Seaver and Assistant Supt. Sarah Hart now must find somewhere else to trim the budget by $36,000, preferably in areas that won’t affect jobs, the board said.

Board President Mildred Lynch voted against the motion, arguing that there aren’t any areas to cut without affecting someone’s livelihood.

“Maybe it’s going to be a different group next time,” Lynch said.

Board member Bill Henry also voted against the plan, saying he would support it only if the board eliminated home-to-school bus transportation to pay for the library positions.

But administrators said eliminating busing would not save any money on paper, because the budget assumes that transportation will pay for itself when the district next year lowers the fees charged to parents for bus service. The district hopes to raise ridership to increase revenues.