School board to decide next week- once and for all- the meeting schedule
Staff objected to proposed changes in meeting dates
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

After agreeing to alter their meeting schedule to allow for occasional attendance at City Council meetings, Conejo Valley Unified School District board members are rethinking that decision.

Negative feedback from district staff has resulted in a board that's now split between retaining the original schedule and changing it even more.

The board currently meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, the same schedule followed by the Thousand Oaks City Council.

At the end of last year, members voted to try meeting on the first and fourth Tuesdays, a compromise between those who wanted to retain the schedule and others who thought it important for the community and board members themselves to have the opportunity to attend some City Council meetings.

"I think when we originally proposed it, I thought this was a good compromise," said board member Pat Phelps. "But now, I think it's going to be very awkward. It's going to interrupt our business flow. I just think it's going to be very cumbersome."

Board member Dorothy Beaubien and President Dolores Didio disagreed, but they said if the proposed schedule didn't work for staff, the original should be maintained.

"I thought the second and fourth was working fine," Didio said. "It would mean the fewest changes, and historically we already change meetings three or four times a year. It seems to be working well right along. That would be my first preference, and my second would be to compromise."

The new schedule was not to begin until July, and in the meantime, the board asked district staff for their opinion. Many members of the staff not only attend meetings, but prepare reports and the agenda.

They said that the new schedule's backtoback meetings at times would not allow enough time to prepare, and they had other objections as well.

Phelps proposed switching to the first and third Tuesdays, which would allow residents to attend both City Council and CVUSD meetings. Beaubien fought back.

"When we talked about this before, some of us thought it (the current schedule) was fine and others didn't, I guess," Beaubien said. "The first and fourth was a compromise. The whole idea of this was that it was a compromise."

At the Feb. 13 meeting, Phelps asked that the issue be put on the agenda for Feb. 27. She expressed frustration when it was limited to discussion- no motion could be made.

"So how do we get this on the agenda? If the last time didn't work, what do I need to do this time so we get to vote at the next meeting?" Phelps asked.

Didio responded that Phelps would need to direct her, the president, to do it.

"Well then I'm directing you to do it," Phelps said forcefully, but with a laugh.

Didio begrudgingly agreed, but warned that she couldn't guarantee how it would turn out. She also resisted putting several options on the agenda for the board to vote on- for example, combinations of the first and third, second and fourth or first and fourth Tuesdays.

"I would think it would be done the way it's always been done, and we don't list options," Didio said.

But Superintendent Mario Contini said the different combinations would most likely be listed.

Barring any changes, the board should vote on the schedule change at its Tues., March 13 meeting.