VENTURA : Back-to-Basics School Plan Gains

After getting rave reviews for their proposal for a new back-to-basics school, Ventura education officials have decided to move forward with their plan to open such a school as early as next fall.

The Ventura Unified School District board decided this week to pick a principal for the proposed school from among the current principals at the district’s 17 elementary schools.

In addition, board members agreed that Supt. Joseph Spirito should form a committee of parents and school staff to help decide which of the 17 elementary schools should be converted to a back-to-basics educational institution.

As proposed by Spirito, the school would impose a rigid dress code, require parents to volunteer and enforce a strict homework policy.

T-shirts, jeans and shorts would be forbidden. Girls at the school would have to wear dresses or long pants, and boys’ attire would be restricted to collared shirts and slacks.

Since Spirito last week revealed his plans to establish such a school, district officials have received much encouragement for the idea from parents and elementary school administrators, Spirito told the board Tuesday.

“Not all 8,000 elementary kids’ parents want a school like this,” he said to the board. “I’m not naive. But I can guarantee you we can fill one school like this, if not more.”

Although board members gave their support to the proposal, Trustee Cliff Rodriguez said he wants to ensure that students from all neighborhoods in the city would have a chance to attend the new institution.

Rodriguez said he also would like to see a strict homework policy enforced at all of the district’s schools. “If we’re going to go up a notch, I’d want all the schools to go up.”