Trustee wants feedback from the public regarding school closure plan

The school district doesn't have to close as many as three or more elementary schools to balance the budget (July 19 Thousand Oaks Acorn, "District wants residents' input about ideal school enrollment").

Closing one elementary school saves the district $625,000 a year and is one of many options staff could implement with board approval to balance the $180-million general fund budget.

Here are some other options:

The district could cut the travel and conference budget. Last year the district spent $569,000 for travel and conferences. Use of the Internet and teleconferences could cut that expense.

The budget for professional/consultation services and operating expenses budget is budgeted to rise 27 percent next fiscal year from $4.4 million to $5.6 million. That's a $1.2-million increase.

I question this increase and have asked Jeff Baarstad for an itemized list of this budget to see whether we can postpone some of this budget increase and keep an elementary school open.

Closing elementary schools will also force multiple attendance boundary changes, longer commutes and affect the attractiveness of real estate in some areas. The closures could begin September 2008.

A compromise would be to combine other spending cuts and fewer elementary school closures. I also have reviewed STAR data from the state of California that shows voluntary reenrollment for sixth grade at an elementary school will result in no statistical change in academic performance.

To balance the budget the school district should be presenting all options and asking the parents and community for input. Instead the people are being given one choice--close elementary schools.

I'm asking for input, ideas and opinions from the community. My e-mail address is: mike4schoolboard@yahoo.com.

I'll consider all ideas before I vote.

Disclaimer: My views are my own and may or may not represent others in the school district.
Michael Dunn, trustee, Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education