CALABASAS : School Candidates Tackle Budget Issues

Eight candidates for Las Virgenes school board appeared together for the first time this week in a forum that centered on issues concerning the budget, school safety and vouchers.

Using a procedure that did not allow exchanges between candidates, the school board hopefuls fielded questions submitted by audience members at the Lost Hills/Malibu Sheriff’s Station on Thursday night.

Often, questions about how to make the schools better and safer led to remarks on the budget crunch facing the prestigious Las Virgenes Unified School District.

“I think we’ve spent a lot of time looking at places to make cuts,” accountant Adrian B. Stern said. “But I don’t think that we’ve spent a lot of time looking at places to raise money.”

Others, including clinical psychologist Kim B. Barrus and attorney Gary Rafferty, said they thought the district could make do with less by recruiting more parents as volunteers.

Incumbents Judy Jordan and Barbara Bowman-Fagelson suggested asking voters again whether they would approve a parcel tax to pay for school improvements--an idea that has been narrowly defeated twice in recent years. Jordan also touted her plan for a foundation to seek money for computers and other technology advances.

Charlotte Meyer, who has put $6,000 of her own money into her campaign, far outstripping the fund-raising efforts of her competitors, proposed that the district hire a professional fund-raiser.

Attorney Robert Mark Freedman and bank officer Joanna Lofaso said school safety is one of their major concerns. Both said they supported hiring guards for Calabasas and Agoura high schools, and possibly other schools.

Only Barrus and Lofaso said they support Proposition 174, which would offer vouchers to reimburse parents for private education, on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Candidate Robert Oserin did not attend the forum.