Conejo Schools Get New Leader

Conejo Valley school officials Thursday chose Robert Fraisse, currently superintendent of the Hueneme Elementary School District, to take the helm of Ventura County’s second-largest district.

Earlier in the day, school board members visited the Hueneme district where Fraisse has worked for five years. Later they voted unanimously to hire him.

“It was hands-down that this man was right for our district, and we couldn’t see the point in waiting any longer,” said school board President Mary Jo Del Campo. “We are all just so excited to have him on board. I am beyond excited.”

Fraisse, 51, said he looks forward to the new opportunity. He has lived in Thousand Oaks for 25 years. “My kids grew up here and went through the school system here,” he said. “This is a chance to work in a community I’ve been a part of for a long time.”

Fraisse will be paid about $170,000 a year to lead the 21,000-student Conejo Valley Unified School District, Del Campo said. His contract will be finalized at a board meeting April 9, and a reception is planned for April 29.

In the Conejo district, Fraisse will face tough teacher salary negotiations, which are at an impasse. He will also have to deal with construction of a new elementary school and a continuation high school that will share space with a satellite campus of Moorpark College.

Del Campo said she is confident Fraisse will rise to the challenges and will apply a style of leadership that has been described as “hard on problems; soft on people.”

“We couldn’t find one person to say one negative thing about this man,” she said. “He appears to be the perfect fit for our district.”

Fraisse took over the 8,000-student Hueneme district in 1997 after working for 20 years in the Las Virgenes Unified School District. Hueneme school officials said they will begin searching for a replacement.

“He’s going to be our baseline,” said board member Darlene Bruno. “Someone is going to have to have his qualities, because we’ve grown to really like them in the district.”