CVUSD board reorganizes

The board of the Conejo Valley Unified School District recently reorganized and made scheduling changes to regular board meeting times. The title of board president belongs to Dolores Didio. Vice president is now Dorothy Beaubien, and Pat Phelps has taken on the role of clerk.

Beginning in January 2003, school board meetings will begin at 6 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. Members said that the earlier hour is a more common starting time for school boards across the state.

Meetings will still be held the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month. The meeting for December 24 has been canceled, as it would fall on Christmas Eve. School board meetings for January are scheduled for 6 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 14 and Tuesday, Jan. 28. These changes are reflected in the district’s Web site, http://www.conejo.k12.ca.us/_cvusd/.

The board reorganizes each year in December so that different members get turns in leadership roles.

Didio said that while her role will sometimes be as a spokesperson, that the president does not always speak for all members, especially on issues that require a vote from each member. "It doesn’t give you any more power," she said. "It’s the board as a whole."

Regarding the coming year, Didio is focusing on the issue on everyone’s mind, "There’s going to be some significant budget problems we’ll have to deal with," she said. She and the board are looking forward to some solutions in the works, as well, such as the deal for Sycamore Canyon Elementary School including a middle school segment in the near future. The district has just completed a five-year plan of action, and a new five-year strategic plan must be created.

Tim Stephens is looking forward to the new year. "We have a new superintendent (Robert Fraisse) who in a very short amount of time has demonstrated some leadership." The five-year plan, he said, would contain some ambitious long-range goals, even with the current budget challenges. "There are a lot of great things we can do in our district without spending money," he said. The board aims to make the district not only great in the county, said Stephens, but also great in the state of California.