School board approves new plan
By Joann Groff joann@theacorn.com

Conejo Valley Unified School District has outlined its goals for the next four years.

Each of three goals committees- instruction, facilities, and governance and funding- provided input for the new plan, which was adopted by the school board at the end of June. Each committee submitted three main goals.

Richard Simpson, former assistant superintendent, said setting three goals was appropriate.

"These will be the three that will make the biggest difference," Simpson said. "Limiting it to three is good; it helps us keep focus. These are the top three goals (in each of the three areas) that will make us a better district."

In the area of instruction, goals include improving student performance in English/language arts and mathematics. The desired increase in proficiency will be measured by the percentage of students performing at advanced and proficient levels on the California Standards Test as well as by the performance of English-language learners on the California English Language Development Test.

Another goal is to improve student writing skills, which will be reflected on district assessments, California Standards Tests and the SAT.

The facilities committee will focus on making sure all CVUSD property is being used responsibly and costeffectively and on monitoring the progress of district projects. A major goal was set to complete a master plan to renovate and upgrade all district school facilities based on a common standard of quality by Sept. 1, 2009.

Funding goals include developing a culture of leadership, assuring that governance practice supports that leadership and making costrevenue improvements to direct funds to instruction.

The plan was adopted unanimously.