Putting 6th Grade in Middle Schools OKd
Parents cheered this week after Conejo Valley Unified trustees voted to eventually put all sixth-graders in middle schools rather than elementary schools.
After five years of a parent choice program, enrollment of sixth-graders in middle school programs has risen to 44%, with 6% on a waiting list.
The district Tuesday approved a measure to increase the maximum enrollment of sixth-graders in its four middle schools to 216 students next year, thereby eliminating the waiting list.
The district also approved a measure converting elementary schools to kindergarten through fifth grade when their sixth-grade student population falls below 25. Furthermore, when two-thirds or 13 of the district’s 19 elementary schools have eliminated their sixth-grade classes, the entire district will convert to K-5 elementary schools and middle schools with grades six, seven and eight.
Opposition from parents who want to choose whether their children attend middle or elementary school has declined, district officials said.
About a dozen people spoke Tuesday in support of expanding the middle school program, with only one, former school board member Elaine McKearn, speaking against the proposal.
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