Measure Receives a Mixed Reception at Private Schools : Educators: For some, a Proposition 174 win would mean not as many fund-raisers. For others, passage would represent government interference.

As a Catholic school principal, Brother Paul Horkin says the school-voucher initiative on the November ballot could put an end to some of his problems.

Fewer worries over whether parents at St. Bonaventure High School in Ventura are able to pay the annual tuition.

Less need to nag parents for payments.

And not as many fund-raisers to scrape together the extra money necessary to cover the school’s costs.

“The voucher would help us,” Horkin said. “It would make my job easier.”

In fact, if Proposition 174 passes, St. Bonaventure would raise its yearly fees from about $2,900 to $3,500 to cover the 15% of school expenses not paid by current tuition, Horkin said.

Even with the increase, St. Bonaventure parents would have to come up with only about $900 a year because the $2,600 state vouchers would cover the rest.

Although some Proposition 174 opponents have raised the specter of private schools expanding to profit from students using state vouchers, Horkin said St. Bonaventure has no plans of increasing its enrollment beyond its current 625.

And the school would continue accepting mainly students from local Catholic and Episcopal schools, with priority given to Catholics.

“We would not change our policy,” Horkin said. “We’re not in the business to make money.”

But some Ventura County private-school principals are less enthusiastic than Horkin about the voucher initiative.

“My biggest concern about the voucher is the long arm of the state of California reaching into private schools,” said Leo Molitor, interim headmaster at Villanova Preparatory School, a Catholic high school in Ojai. Molitor worked 30 years as a principal and administrator in the Ojai public schools before taking a job at Villanova.

“I tell private school educators if you think they’re not going to interfere, you’ve got another thing coming,” he said. “That scares me because I know how they louse things up with everything from having to teach drivers’ education to sex education.”

In fact, the drafters of Proposition 174 clearly had Molitor’s concerns in mind when they wrote the initiative.

Under the measure, private schools would be able to accept vouchers if they meet only a handful of minimum requirements, such as having at least 25 students, teaching academic subjects, and employing staff members deemed capable of teaching.

And the initiative would make it difficult for the state to impose stricter standards.

Except for health and safety regulations, the voucher initiative prohibits any additional restrictions on private schools without approval by three-quarters of the state Legislature--a super-majority that the measure’s backers and opponents agree is tough to get.

Despite these protections, Jim Neumann, principal of St. John’s Lutheran School in Oxnard, said officials at his school continue to be concerned that accepting state money may be inviting government interference.

“Demands might be made upon us that we just don’t want to adhere to,” Neumann said. “We want to be able to teach what we want to teach.”

Also, he said, the St. John’s Lutheran Church congregation includes many public school employees who oppose the voucher.

So church officials have not decided yet whether their school would accept the vouchers. “We just have mixed feelings about it,” Neumann said.

At Cochran Baptist School in Simi Valley, Principal Norm Walker said he believes private school educators have nothing to fear.

The voucher initiative actually strengthens the hand of private schools by requiring a super-majority legislative vote to impose new restrictions, he said.

“There are no safeguards for home educators, private educators now,” he said.

Moreover, he said, it would be students, not private schools, who are receiving the tax-funded vouchers, giving the government less ability to intervene in how the schools are run.

“The funding goes to students,” Walker said. “And parents choose the schools.”

Ventura County’s Private Schools

There are several dozen private schools in Ventura County. Vouchers would cover full, current tuition for many of them, but some private and religious schools have no room for more students. And some that are concerned about government interference are not sure they would accept the state money. Here is a geographic sampling:

At No. Max Cap- School City Grades Students Tuition* acity Carden School Camarillo K-8 135 $4,350 no Cochran Baptist Simi Valley K-12 200 $2,750 no Grace Brethren Simi Valley K-12 700 $3,930 no Hueneme Christian Port Hueneme K-8 400 $2,000 yes** La Reina H.S. Thousand 7-12 560 $3,150 yes Oaks Ojai Valley Ojai K-12 315 $11,000* yes St. John’s Lutheran Oxnard K-8 210 $2,200 no St. Mary Magdalen Camarillo 1-8 259 $1,660 yes Santa Clara Elementary Oxnard K-8 352 $1,350 yes Santa Clara H.S. Oxnard 9-12 565 $3,050 no St. Bonaventure H.S. Ventura 9-12 625 $2,970 yes The Thacher School Ojai 9-12 225 $11,000 yes Valley Christian Acad. Oak View K-12 85 $3,000 no Villanova Preparatory Ojai 9-12 227 $3,950 yes

Would accept School vouchers? Carden School unsure Cochran Baptist yes Grace Brethren unsure Hueneme Christian unsure La Reina H.S. unsure Ojai Valley yes St. John’s Lutheran unsure St. Mary Magdalen yes Santa Clara Elementary yes Santa Clara H.S. yes St. Bonaventure H.S. yes The Thacher School unsure Valley Christian Acad. unsure Villanova Preparatory unsure

* At many schools, tuition is lower for younger students. The tuition figures don’t include room and board at boarding schools.

** The school plans to expand whether or not Proposition 174 passes