Timeline set for deciding the schools that may be closed
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

With rumors circulating about school closures in the coming years, the Conejo Valley Unified School District staff has outlined possibilities in response to declining enrollment. In a presentation last week, superintendent of business services Jeff Baarstad introduced a timeline.

Between now and Sept. 4, the focus will be on deciding whether a school closure will be necessary in fall 2008 or 2009. Staff will look at the average elementary school size as well as an ideal size from both instructional and budgetary perspectives.

"As other alternatives come to bear, we will make a decision to or not to close a school," said Superintendent Mario Contini. "The information is constantly changing. The principals meet regularly to look at the numbers. We aren't making a decision that's necessarily stagnant- it could be dynamic, as it's always changing."

Phase two of the timeline, Sept. 18 to Dec. 4 later this year, will require identification of specific school sites for closure in fall 2008- - if the phase one decision was indeed to close a school.

For potential fall 2009 school closures, phase two will take place from April to June 2008.

Public input will be guaranteed with a clear, threestep process. First, staff will present their recommendation to the board of education at a study session for board questions and discussion. Then the board will conduct a public hearing at a meeting especially for that purpose. Finally, the staff will present recommendations at a regularly scheduled meeting following the first public hearing and will allow for additional public input.

The school board will then accept, revise or reject the recommendation. If there's a significant revision to the recommendation, it won't be voted on at the same meeting.

"We've always had in our plan to have a very open discussion," Contini said. "We've gone to some workshops and seen the experiences they've had all over the state, and it just made it even more important."

Goals for the school-closure process are that staff, parents and residents view the process as a clear and fair one that provides multiple opportunities for input, according to Baarstad. It's important that there are no lastminute, surprise decisions and that the board and staff can produce sound decisions within the prescribed timelines.