Panel Forecasts Schools’ Needs for 2010

The message from the committee of parents, educators and public officials is clear: The school district will need to spend $120 million to construct, expand and modernize district schools by the year 2010.

In the coming months, school officials must determine whether to pursue the ambitious plan and, if so, how to foot the bill.

“I’m very optimistic about the plan,” school board trustee Jim Wells said Friday. “The committee has defined the needs, now it’s up to us and the city to say, ‘How are we going to do this and find the wherewithal to get this done.’ ”

Though members of the long-range planning committee are still pounding out the final report, they agreed Thursday night to recommend construction of at least two elementary schools, a junior high and high school to make room for about 3,500 added students in the next 15 years.

That could mean looking to the state, developers, the school district’s surplus land and, ultimately, to the voters for help paying for the projects.

“I think you have to take into consideration that we’re planning not for tomorrow or for the next two or three years but for 10 to 15 years, so I’m very optimistic,” said Wells, who attended many of the committee’s meetings over the past four months.

“Every generation pays for the next generation for education. People before me paid for my education. We’re always paying for the next generation. We have to rise up and say, ‘These are our children. They are our future.’ ”

But at least one neighborhood is worried it may be left out of the picture.

Absent from a list of the points tentatively approved Thursday night was an idea to reopen Washington School.

A group of neighborhood residents has been petitioning for months for renovations at the school, which closed in 1983 after decreased enrollment.

“What bothers me as a citizen living in this part of town is that it’s like our needs are being overlooked,” said Jenny Salazar, a member of the Save Our School group spearheading a move to reopen Washington. “I think there’s going to be more growth around this neighborhood in the Washington School area, because there will be more development.”

Washington School is still under consideration, and its fate will depend on a report to be released any day now by architects and engineers, district officials said.

For now, the committee is rushing to produce its recommended plans for the Ventura Unified School District’s 17 elementary, four junior high, two high and four continuation schools. The district’s enrollment, currently at 16,773 is expected to climb to 20,220 by 2010, according to the panel’s report.

The panel’s recommendations will be taken “seriously” when trustees and city officials meet in mid-January to discuss the report, said Joseph Richards, the district’s assistant superintendent of business services.

“The significance of having a report is that it communicates clearly what the needs of the school district are and what our plans are to meet those needs,” Richards said. “It will help the school to make informed decisions when they figure out how to house students in the future.”

The panel will recommend:

* At least two new elementary schools should be built--one in the east end of the city and one in the west. Another elementary school may be needed to reduce class sizes in elementary grades.

* Oak View and Arnaz schools, the district’s two smallest elementary schools, should be combined into one campus at Arnaz. Both schools currently share the same principal, Larry Hardesty.

* A third middle school should be built in the east end of the city to handle increased enrollment and to relieve crowding at Anacapa and Balboa middle schools.

* A high school--whether it’s some type of magnet or a comprehensive school--should be built.

The cost is expected to be about $80 million for construction and $40 million for modernization, according to a draft of the report. The group will recommend that the city and trustees look into pursuing a bond measure as one alternative.

Supt. Joseph Spirito and trustees have already given their approval to have a financial firm specializing in school bonds to do a feasibility study, expected to be released sometime in January.