OJAI : Study on Transfer of Schools Is Denied

Ventura County planning commissioners on Thursday turned down a request for a study on the feasibility of transferring Arnaz and Oak View elementary schools from the Ventura Unified School District to the Ojai school system.

The Planning Commission does not have the authority to order such a study, the five-member commission said in voting unanimously against the request. Proponents of the study said they may appeal the commission’s decision to the county Board of Supervisors, which is scheduled to review the Ojai Valley Area Plan on May 23.

The request for a feasibility study was one of several proposals made by a citizens advisory committee that reviewed the plan, said committee member Lanie Springer.

Springer said she was disappointed by the commission’s decision.

“I doubt if it goes any further,” she said. “I don’t think there is enough momentum on the part of parents in this area.”

Some parents in Oak View, Casitas Springs and Meiners Oaks have said it makes more sense to have Arnaz and Oak View schools in the Ojai Unified School District so students can attend middle and high school in Ojai. They have also said they are concerned about gang violence at DeAnza Middle School and Ventura High School in Ventura and a perception that the academic programs there are inferior.

Ventura school officials were not immediately available for comment. But in the past, they have opposed the feasibility study on the grounds that the academic program in Ventura is satisfactory.