THOUSAND OAKS : Parents Discuss Future of Schools

More computer training and a requirement that parents help with homework were among ideas tossed out by parents during a recent brainstorming session to map the future of Thousand Oaks schools.

The suggestions will be used to develop a new set of goals to guide the Conejo Valley Unified School District for the next five years. Budget priorities and curriculum policies will be set according to those goals.

Wednesday night’s meeting at Sequoia Intermediate School in Newbury Park was attended by about half a dozen parents and community members, along with a dozen district officials.

Alice Humbertson, a member of the steering committee developing the plan, said she believed the turnout was low because similar open forums are being held at individual schools throughout the district.

Of the parents who did attend, David McCune said he would like to see an elementary school curriculum that forces children to interact with parents on homework and other activities.

“I’d like to see schools where parents were in fact required to be involved,” he said.

Other parents said they wanted to see a lower student/counselor ratio in high schools and junior high schools, have counselors in elementary schools and teach elementary students how to resolve conflicts. The district now has counselors only in the upper grades.

All of the suggestions will be used to come up with a set of recommended goals before the district’s current five-year plan expires in June. The school board is expected to discuss and adopt a new five-year plan in the next two months.