School Board to Discuss Reforms
The Ventura County Board of Education will begin discussing a plan to revise its policies at a daylong meeting today.
On the surface, the process that was initiated last spring is an attempt to revise all of the district’s administrative policies, but critics maintain that it is an effort by the board’s conservative majority to rein in Supt. Charles Weis.
“I have several questions about this policy draft,” said board member John McGarry. “Most of them center around the fact that I don’t believe the board should be trying to extend its authority.”
The board majority, represented by President Marty Bates and members Wendy Larner and Angela Miller, has clashed with Weis on several issues, including providing AIDS education for teachers.
In late March, the board agreed to pay $12,800 to a Sacramento law firm that prepared a first draft of the new policy, which was modeled after the policies of San Diego County schools.
Selecting San Diego as a model was surprising to some because it is one of a handful of California counties in which the superintendent of schools is appointed. In Ventura and most counties, the schools chief is elected.
Today’s meeting will be held at 5189 Verdugo Way in Camarillo, beginning at 9 a.m.
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