High School Students Can Attend College

Hoping to expand the educational horizons of high school students, Moorpark’s school board has adopted a policy that will give those students credit for taking classes at local colleges.

Under the new policy, students who are earning passing grades in four high school classes can apply to receive high school credit for a college or university course. The application must be signed by a parent or guardian and state specifically why the student wants to take the course.

Applications must be approved by the high school principal, district superintendent or someone designated by the superintendent.

Ventura County’s Community College District already has agreements with local school districts allowing high school students to receive college credit for certain high school classes.

Vicki Bortolussi, a dean at Moorpark College, said she wants to see the new policy adopted by other school districts.

Bortolussi and Clint Harper, a trustee with the Moorpark Unified School District, have already pitched the idea to a consortium representing local high schools and the college district, she said.

“If the students can do college-level work . . . they should be able to take some college classes and some high school classes,” she said.