School board -minus Dunn- responds to debate over winter break

In response to Diane Marie's and Jo Anne Cobasko's letters in the Thousand Oaks Acorn of April 27, a number of facts need to be stated.

In years past the school calendar has not been an issue that was controversial. This year was different. The scheduling concerns arose when a few parents revealed that they would like more time prior to Christmas for 2006 Winter Vacation.

The school board requested that the Unified Association of Teachers revisit the schedule to see if adjustments could be made. District staff and the teachers worked long and hard to arrive at a compromise solution that provided three days prior to Christmas. The motion was approved by the board by a vote of 4-1, with Mr. Dunn voting no. This was another example of this district and its employee groups collaborating to find a win-win solution to a challenging issue.

Several years ago the school board directed staff to coordinate our district's school calendar with other districts in the East County so as to better meet the needs of all parents.

As was mentioned at the March 14 board meeting, the surrounding districts of Oaks Christian, Las Virgenes, Simi Valley, Oak Park and Moorpark have similar winter vacation schedules. Even Oxnard Elementary School District, where CVUSD School Board Member Mike Dunn's wife works as a teacher, has a winter vacation schedule that begins on Mon., Dec. 25, 2006.

Mrs. Marie and Mrs. Cobasko refer to Mr. Dunn's poll that revealed that an 81 percent majority of CVUSD constituents supported a vacation start date of Dec. 16 or Dec. 20.

No one has seen this poll so that the results could be confirmed and analyzed for validity (questions asked, number of respondents, etc.) Incorrect or misleading statements lead to invalid conclusions. For example 81 percent of zero is still zero.

It is disappointing that a vocal minority has demonstrated no desire to work in concert with the district to resolve issues through compromise and collaboration.

We have one of the finest districts in the state of California and all stakeholders need to continue to work together to create excellence in education for all the students in CVUSD. Tim Stephens, member, Conejo Valley Unified School District School Board, Westlake Village

The letter was also signed by board members Pat Phelps, Dorothy Beaubein and Dolores Didio.