SIMI VALLEY : Magnet Foes Speak Out at Board Meeting

Both Hillside and Sequoia junior high schools are unsuited to become the site of a new high school emphasizing technology and the performing arts, school representatives told the Simi Valley school board Monday.

Parents and teachers from both campuses said they like their schools just the way they are and told the board they opposed the idea of converting either of the sites to a magnet school that would attract high school students from throughout the district.

“Hillside is a neighborhood school, and we need to remain one,” said Tony Franklin, a parent who warned that the school’s one small parking lot would not be able to accommodate high school students who drive.

Teacher Debra Bickford also raised traffic issues as a concern, warning that if the school board went ahead with plans to convert Hillside into a high school, Fitzgerald Road would be more hazardous for students from the three elementary schools who live within walking distance.

“Student drivers and small children both making their way to school on a street with no traffic controls makes for a dangerous combination,” Bickford said.

Sequoia, too, pulled out all the emotional stops in the school’s defense.

“Please don’t close Sequoia Junior High School. It would break my heart to have to start over at a new school,” said Sarah Milstien, 12, a seventh-grader who wore a white sweat shirt embroidered with a heart.

Although the purpose of the 90-minute meeting was to hear reports from the schools in order to help the board select a site for the new high school, some at the meeting questioned whether the board is on the wrong track entirely.

Sequoia music teacher Corey Nordal called the magnet school concept “an idea without a plan,” and board member Debbie Sandland suggested that the board distribute a survey to find out whether there is community support for a magnet school.

The board is scheduled to meet to discuss the school conversion plans on May 30, meet again for a public forum on the topic June 6, and take a final vote June 12.