District May Alter School Boundaries and Set Caps : Education: Officials redrew the lines four years ago, but overcrowding is picking up speed at popular Ventura campuses.

Ventura school officials on Tuesday said they may redraw attendance boundaries and set enrollment caps at popular schools by next fall in a last-ditch effort to reduce overcrowding.

The proposed changes mean that thousands of Ventura students might be forced to go to a school outside of their neighborhood--a move that will probably draw strong criticism from parents, enrollment Director Rich Morrison told school trustees at a special board meeting.

But action must be taken now to relieve overcrowding that has become severe at such sought-after schools as Buena High, Balboa and Anacapa middle schools and Sheridan Way, E.P. Foster, Serra and Saticoy elementary schools.

“I think it will have a positive effect on all of the schools,” Morrison said. “It will help fill schools that don’t have enough students and relieve overcrowding at the other ones.”

Enrollment in the Ventura Unified School District grew by 4% this year to 15,551, an increase of almost 600 students over last year, officials said. The distribution of students is not equal, however, and is growing most rapidly at schools in the eastern part of town, such as Buena and Balboa.

Balboa, for instance, has 1,199 students enrolled, compared with 1,000 at Anacapa and 649 at De Anza Middle School on the city’s west end. The disparity between the district’s two high schools is even greater.

Buena has 2,275 students, almost 600 more than cross-town Ventura High. The differences are projected to increase unless something is done, Morrison said.

Any remapping of the schools’ attendance borders would need approval from the Ventura Unified School District Board of Education. On Tuesday, the trustees seemed receptive to the idea of enrollment caps but less enthusiastic about boundary changes.

“I don’t see the justification for redrawing boundaries,” said trustee John Walker. “We may be able to do some minor boundary realignment, but I think we should look at the other options first.”

Tuesday’s proposals came less than four years after the district redrew attendance lines at all 23 Ventura schools, saying that action would balance enrollments and provide for growth for at least a decade.

Buena and Balboa are the likeliest candidates for redrawn boundaries because teachers have too many students in each class and educators are growing increasingly concerned about campus safety, said Buena High Principal Jaime Castellanos.

“All it takes is a slight inadvertent bump to start a big fight,” he said. “The potential for problems is there.”

Ventura administrators offered no details about which schools or students would be affected by boundary changes. Those decisions will be worked out in the coming month as district leaders refine their plan, said Supt. Joseph Spirito.

As for an enrollment cap, any school that exceeds a predetermined enrollment would be closed to new admissions, Morrison said. That cap would probably be determined by a formula calculating 30 students per classroom, he said.

New students would be directed to another school that is not at capacity, even if it is outside of their neighborhood, he said.

“We’re going to be saying no to some people and they’re going to be unhappy about it,” Morrison said.

If the proposals are approved by school trustees, the changes could take effect as early as September, he said. While administrators believe a selective boundary change and a cap are the best short-term solutions, they presented other options to school board members.

Those included designating students from new housing subdivisions on the east end to be sent to mid-town schools, eliminating all intradistrict transfers--except seniors--at crowded schools and offering busing to students willing to attend underenrolled schools.

Trustees might also consider more extensive boundary changes to include other crowded schools, officials said.

The district faces a major problem in realigning boundaries: Both Ventura and Buena high schools are west of Victoria Avenue, but much of the city’s enrollment and projected growth are east of Victoria Avenue.

When redrawing lines in 1992, the district gave Buena every neighborhood north of Telegraph Road and east of Ventura College. In addition, Buena got all areas south of Telegraph Road and east of Mills Road--except the Montalvo neighborhood, which was assigned to Ventura High.

District administrators had targeted the hillside area north of Foothill Road for inclusion in Ventura High’s attendance area as a way to balance enrollments between the two high schools. But the school board ignored that recommendation and allowed the hillside families to remain at Buena.