The Ventura County Board of Education on Monday heard a group of Conejo Valley parents call for a charter school in Thousand Oaks. The board may make a decision on whether to approve the charter in late October.

Meadows Arts and Technology Elementary School (MATES) board member Sheri Polisini said the meeting went well.

"The thrust of our presentation is that we'd be a charter school benefiting all the students in Ventura County," Polisini said. "We aren't a neighborhood school. We have a concentrated group of pretty talented people here who have given a lot of time in the past and intend to give a lot of time in the future."

Immediately after Conejo Valley Unified trustees voted to close Meadows and University elementary schools, Meadows parents banded together to preserve the school's arts-focused curriculum. After requests for a magnet school at Meadows were denied—CVUSD instead approved a magnet at Manzanita Elementary—a committee was formed and a plan for a charter school was drawn up.

The CVUSD board denied the group's petition, citing an incomprehensive academic plan and insufficient planning for student subgroups such as English-language learners.

CVUSD officials also said the school would take money and students away from the district at a time when reduced funding and declining enrollment are already major issues.

The MATES board took a revised petition to the Ventura County Board of Education.

"I do feel the county is far more openminded about charter schools," Polisini said. "They definitely see charter schools' benefits in districts. They listened attentively; they are communicative. They are great."

The board is scheduled to make its decision at its Oct. 27 meeting.

- - Joann Groff