Popular principal transferred despite parents’ protest
By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com
Principal Jennifer Boone is moved by the love and support of students and parents. But despite Cypress Elementary School parents and children picketing in front of the Conejo Valley Unified School District (CVUSD) office recently and voicing their objections at a school board meeting, Boone will be transferred to Manzanita Elementary next fall.

Jennifer Boone

Manzanita and Cypress are both in Newbury Park.

Principal of Cypress for only a year, Boone is popular not for boosting state tests scores— which were on the rise several years before her arrival—but for building relationships and getting to know students, parents and teachers.

Several Cypress students and parents pleaded to the board to reconsider and keep Boone at that school. They praised her for taking the time to know every student’s name. One youngster said she plays with them on the playground. Another student said she’s helped a lot of kids with problems at home. A parent called Boone “a bright and shining star.” Parent Usha Kokatay, who has two children in Cypress, told trustees she felt betrayed since parents were promised Boone would stay put for at least three years.

It’s hard to teach children honesty when the district goes back on its word, Kokatay said.

Protesting to the school board proved fruitless because district administrators, not the school board, decide on personnel transfers. As for school officials promising Boone would stay at Cypress three or more years, Superintendent Robert Fraisse disputed that.

“No one made such a promise because we cannot control what happens in life,” he said.

The district’s goal is to keep principals in the same school three years or more, but there’s a big difference between a goal and a promise, he said. Cypress parents and teachers will be able to assist in the selection of a new principal for the school, Fraisse said.

Linda Faverty, CVUSD director of elementary instruction, said Boone was transferred because it’s an “excellent match” for Manzanita Elementary School. Boone speaks Spanish, is finishing her doctorate and has worked with Pepperdine University’s student teaching program. Manzanita has a significant enrollment of Spanish-speaking students.

CVUSD is in the process of forging a partnership with Pepperdine that would make Manzanita a development site for its teaching program. If the university agrees, its student teachers could be assigned to Manzanita classrooms and Pepperdine classes taught there. A decision is expected in June.

Boone is experienced in working not only with Pepperdine but also at Title 1 schools. Title 1 schools, such as Manzanita, have a higher percentage of poor students and students who don’t speak English at home. Boone was principal for five years of a Title 1 school in the Palm Springs area and for two years she coordinated Title 1 programs.