6th Grade Cut to Make Room at New School

Conejo Valley school trustees quelled one controversy but started another Tuesday night by voting to exclude sixth-graders from their newest elementary school.

Trustees of the Conejo Valley Unified School District voted 4 to 1 to make the new Lang Ranch Elementary School the district’s first K-5 school, an action that will make room for about 200 neighborhood schoolchildren who have been left out of attendance boundary proposals over the last few weeks.

The action pleased many parents whose children would otherwise have been excluded from the district’s 20th elementary school, which is expected to open next fall.

But the vote frustrated others, who said they did not know changing the grades served by the school was an option.

“I have concerns,” said Jeff Klein, a parent of two who did not say whether he favored the plan. “I haven’t had time to think about it. . . . I think the board is jumping the gun and you’re being forced to make a decision before you’ve had a chance to consider all the impacts.”

Some parents questioned the legality of the vote. State law requires public agencies to give advance notice on their agendas of any possible action; the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting called only for approval of attendance boundary proposals.

But Assistant Supt. Jody Dunlap, who serves as the board parliamentarian, said the change of course was appropriate.

“As long as it is tied into the discussion pertaining to the issue, then a motion can be amended,” she said, adding that the K-5 idea addresses that issue.

Parent Selene Carr, whose home had been left out of previous proposals, was thrilled that her children now will be able to go to Lang Ranch Elementary.

“I don’t care that it wasn’t posted on the agenda,” she said. “I think it is a good compromise.”

But other parents--and dissenting trustee Elaine McKearn--felt the issue was forced.

“This was a strategic plan from the very beginning,” McKearn said. “We should be talking about boundaries, not about a K-5 or a K-6 district. It’s not even on the agenda. If we want to have another meeting, fine, but not tonight.”

McKearn is against sending sixth-graders to middle school, contending that many children are not ready for that big leap.

The district currently allows sixth-graders to choose whether they want to attend elementary school or one of the four middle schools.

Students graduating from the fifth grade at Lang Ranch would have to move to another elementary school if their parents did not want them to attend sixth grade at a middle school.

Though PTA Council President Alice Humbertson is in favor of sending sixth-graders to middle school, she was surprised at Tuesday’s decision.

“This is news to me,” she said. “Where did this come from? . . . It would have been nice to see this as a posted alternative.”

Trustee Dolores Didio first suggested the idea of excluding the sixth grade at Lang Ranch Elementary and trustee Dorothy Beaubien agreed.

“I see this as a best solution to accommodate a lot more students and make a lot more people happy,” Beaubien said.

Board President Mildred Lynch has had problems with forcing sixth-graders into middle school in the past, but said she changed her mind Tuesday when grappling with attendance boundary issues.

Trustee Richard Newman added that he was in favor of the decision “at least for one school.”

As part of their vote, trustees also delayed making a decision on where to send children who will one day live in the Woodridge development that sits above the school.

In past weeks, residents who have been left out of the Lang Ranch school boundary proposals have complained that Woodridge homes don’t exist yet and should not take precedence over long-existing neighborhoods.

The anger caused by about 420 homeowners spurred City Councilman Andy Fox to propose blocking construction of the 252-home Woodridge development.

Despite having been alerted via faxed memo of the school district’s new plan, the City Council on Tuesday voted to delay granting the allotments necessary for construction to begin.

Council members voted 3 to 2 to postpone the allotments until they get more information from the school district on the impacts of Woodridge.

“What we’re doing this evening, if we allow this to continue, is transferring the problem somewhere else to another school,” said Linda Parks, who along with Elois Zeanah, has been against the development all along.

In a separate vote, school district trustees unanimously decided to send all future Madrona Elementary schoolchildren to Aspen Elementary School, which has more room.

Times staff writer Miguel Bustillo contributed to this report.