In the Sept. 28 letters to the T.O. Acorn, Randy Roth accused me of "following Dunn down a road that is based on misrepresen- tation of the facts." Not so.

At the Democratic Party fo- rum, I noted that the California Department of Education's Simi- lar Schools Rank shows several of our elementary schools are not doing well competitively in spite of high API scores.

Three schools rank near the bottom compared to 100 other schools with similar demograph- ics. This isn't selective data; these are results published in the state of California's "2005 API Base Report," available on the web.

It doesn't imply they are "bad" schools, since all three of those schools have APIs over 840. Why those high performing schools are not competitive is not clear, but it is a fact we should acknowledge, try to understand, and work to improve-not gloss over or ig- nore. Which was my point at the forum.

Yes, "Facts are stubborn things," as Mr. Roth quotes Ronald Reagan, but the facts I cited are just that-published state test results.

I agree with John Short, who was quoted in the Acorn as stat- ing that declining enrollment is the greatest challenge facing the district. We lost the equivalent of one entire elementary school- 600 students-since last Septem- ber, and have yet to respond. We need to take immediate action to cut expenses and attract students to our district before we have a financial crisis. We need new board members with experience in financial management and stra- tegic planning. Choose well.

I propose a combination of creative solutions like magnet schools to attract and retain stu- dents, and an intensive review of district finances to minimize or eliminate spending which does not directly benefit K-12 students.

We also need to rebuild a col- laborative work environment on the board. My extensive expe- rience on corporate and non- profit boards will be a great as- set in that regard. I look forward to working with Superintendent Mario Contini and my fellow board members to build an even better Conejo Valley Unified School District in collaboration with parents, teachers and the administration for the benefit of all our students. Greg Lennox Candidate for Conejo Valley School Board Thousand Oaks