Details on Moorpark College Satellite Unveiled

After years of trying to put a Moorpark College satellite campus in Thousand Oaks, community college trustees this week embraced plans for a $5.2-million facility as part of a joint venture with the Conejo Valley Unified School District.

The 17,000-square-foot facility--which eventually could serve more than 300 full-time students--would be part of a $15-million educational center planned for a 10-acre site next to the school district’s headquarters on Janss Road.

Both agencies have worked on the project for about a year, but Tuesday night was the first time the details had been presented in a public forum, Moorpark College President Jim Walker said.

“I think everybody now knows exactly where we are. And if anyone had objections or concerns, they had the opportunity to voice them,” Walker said. “Hearing none, we’re excited and moving ahead.”

The next step for both boards will be to complete detailed drawings for the campus and approve a funding program, a process that could take several months.

The school district still must select an architect for the project and approve funds for planning.

That action may occur at the school board’s next meeting.

The two main features of the overall 45,000-square-foot center would be the Moorpark College satellite campus and a new building for Conejo Valley High School, the district’s continuation school.

The center might also house a media center that would include a studio for Channel 21, a district-run television station, and learning programs, said Jerry Gross, superintendent for the Conejo Valley schools.

Conejo Valley High School, at 1872 Newbury Road, is the district’s oldest facility and desperately needs to be rebuilt, Gross said.

School officials decided years ago to move it from Newbury Park to a more central place in Thousand Oaks.

They came up with the education center concept after hearing about Moorpark College’s desire to offer classes in the Conejo Valley.

The center--which also would include a 100-seat lecture hall, about 30 classrooms, two computer labs and a multipurpose room--is proposed for school district-owned land near California 23 and Janss Road.

Construction could start next year, with a target opening in time for the 2002 fall semester.

“The concept is quite exciting,” said Norman Nagel, who represents the Conejo Valley on the Ventura County Community College District Board of Trustees. “It gives us another footprint in the communities we serve and allows our students to be physically closer to the community college, which will help cut down on their transportation costs.”

It takes about 30 minutes for students in Thousand Oaks to travel to the county’s nearest community college.

As classrooms at Moorpark College become increasingly crowded, Nagel said many people have decided to instead enroll at Pierce College in the San Fernando Valley.

A Thousand Oaks satellite campus could entice them to spend their tuition dollars in Ventura County, he said.

“This is an opportunity to demonstrate that we want to have a presence here and serve their needs,” Nagel said.

The Conejo Valley school district would pay for most of the project--about $10 million--a large chunk of which would come from selling the land now occupied by the continuation school, Gross said.

A maintenance and operations yard, which shares the land with the school, would be relocated to another district-owned site near Amgen Inc.

“Our board is really excited about it, and so are we,” Gross said.