Two elementary schools drop sixth grade; donors help CVUSD

Two elementary schools drop sixth grade; donors help CVUSD

By Michelle Knight

knight@theacorn.com

The Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education voted unanimously last week to move sixth grade at Walnut and Acacia elementary schools to middle schools at the start of the fall semester.

As a result of the move, 14 out of the 20 elementary schools in the district will end with fifth grade.

According to a district report, the majority of fifth-graders at Acacia in Thousand Oaks and Walnut in Newbury Park have opted to attend sixth grade at the middle school level. Most Acacia students will go to Redwood or Colina Middle School, while most sixth-graders from Walnut will attend Sequoia Middle School.

Those fifth-graders who do not choose to attend middle school next year may move to an elementary school that still has sixth grade.

Board President Timothy Stephens said having sixth-graders at the middle school campus gives the students a "running start" in preparation for seventh grade.

"They can make the transition probably easier, because they’ve been on the campus for a year," he said.

Although elementary schools typically offer students a smaller environment than that found at middle schools, which usually have more than 1,000 students, Stephens doesn’t think moving Walnut and Acacia sixth-graders to middle school campuses has any disadvantages.

"It’s not that one is better, one is different," said Stephens.

Meanwhile, the district received nearly $150,000 in donations last week: $96,000 from the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall and $50,000 from the Conejo Schools Foundation, which was established in 2003 as the district’s nonprofit fundraising arm.

Superintendent Robert Fraisse said the money from the auto mall is earmarked for the district’s six Title 1 elementary schools: Manzanita and Walnut in Newbury Park; and Park Oaks, Glenwood, Acacia and Conejo in Thousand Oaks. Title 1 schools serve a large percentage of poor students and receive more federal funds.

Foundation President Dianne McKay said the money will support reading and class-size-reduction programs in middle and high schools and counseling services at elementary schools. It’s one of the largest single gifts ever given to the district by the foundation, she said.

McKay said as much as $100,000 more is expected to come in over the next five years from the nonprofit’s 18-month fundraising efforts.

In related news, the board heard two of its employee unions voice support for a resolution—made by the board earlier this month—that opposed the governor’s budget proposal.

In an agreement last year between the governor and a coalition of education groups, schools accepted a standing $2-billion cut in funds guaranteed by Proposition 98 on the condition that no further cuts would be made in subsequent years. However, the governor’s current budget calls for increasing the cut from $2 billion to $3.4 billion, weakening the guarantees of Prop. 98 and shifting some state costs to schools.

Susan Falk, president of the teachers union, said her members unanimously support the board’s resolution.

"Eliminating any part of Prop. 98 is unacceptable," Falk said. "We’re angry and disappointed that we have to spend our time fighting."

Anne Howard, president of the Conejo Valley Pupil Personnel Association, which represents the district’s counselors and psychologists, called the governor’s budget proposal an "insult" to education.

"I feel that it is morally wrong for education to be the arena for financial cuts. Educators are asked to do more and more with less and less," Howard said.

The board passed the resolution on a 4-0 vote at the March 22 meeting. Board member Mike Dunn abstained.