VENTURA : Panel Delays Action on School Transfers

The Ventura County Planning Commission on Thursday delayed action on a proposal to study the feasibility of transferring Arnaz and Oak View elementary schools from the Ventura school district to the Ojai school system.

Some residents in Oak View, Mira Monte and Live Oak Acres would like to see Arnaz and Oak View schools become part of the Ojai Unified School District.

Lanie Springer, an advocate of the proposal, said it makes more sense to have those schools--located about midway between Ventura and Ojai--administered by officials within the Ojai and Ventura River valleys.

She and other members of a panel appointed to make recommendations for a general plan governing the Ojai area’s growth during the next decade are asking the Planning Commission to fund a study to look into a transfer.

But after hearing public testimony on the issue Thursday, planning commissioners decided to table action until their April 20 meeting, county planner Lisa Woodburn said.

Ventura Unified School District officials have opposed the proposal, saying the approximately 500 students at Oak View and Arnaz are adequately served by the Ventura school system. The district would lose at least $2 million in state funding if the transfer took place.