District may change its policy on intra-district school transfers
By Joann Groff  joann@theacorn.com

Due to possible school closures in 2009, Conejo Valley Unified School District is considering some amendments to its school-choice process.

Janet Cosaro, assistant superintendent of instructional services, organized the committee that has suggested the revisions to school-choice procedures.

One of the key amendments was designed for students who attend a neighborhood school identified for closure.

It makes it easier for those students to transfer to their new school in 2008 instead of waiting to be moved out in 2009.

"There are some families who may want to request an early transfer to the assigned receiving school," Cosaro said. "They may be thinking, 'If there's space, I might as well go now.'

"This could be particularly important for kindergartners," Cosaro said, referring to children who might start kindergarten at a neighborhood school slated for closure only to move to a new school for first grade. "But we didn't want to limit it to them. It's for anyone that wants to get a jump on attending their new school."

Another proposed change concerns a junior kindergarten pilot program, which is in the works for the next school year. The program would be for 4-year-olds turning 5 between July 1 and Dec. 2.

If parents are unsure whether their child is ready for kindergarten, they would have an option to enroll the child in junior kindergarten.

"It's a more homogenous group of students," Cosaro said. "Some kids are just not developmentally there yet. These kids would be closer in age and working with a teacher who knows the standards of kindergarten and first grade. She would work closely with the families and tell them if they're ready."

At the end of the year, depending on the level of the student, he or she may move on to either kindergarten or first grade.

Junior kindergarten falls under the auspices of the school-choice program because parents would have to submit a school-choice application for the school where the program takes place. Cosaro said she hopes to have at least one program each in Newbury Park, Thousand Oaks and Westlake.

After completing the program, the child may stay at the school where the junior kindergarten was run or may return to the neighborhood school, in which case the parent would again need to fill out a school-choice application.

The amendment would give these families a higher priority when submitting the application.