Thirty-nine children have been pulled from Conejo Elementary by their parents after the school fell into a remedial program because of test scores.

Conejo Elementary was the first school in Conejo Valley Unified School District to enter a program to improve standardized test scores. Program Improvement requires the school to collaborate with a local educational agency for up to five years to improve school performance.

When a school enters Program Improvement, the district must allow families to move to a non-Program Improvement school if they wish. The two designated receiving elementary schools for Conejo students are Westlake and Westlake Hills.

Thirty-nine students will be moved by their parents—11 to Westlake and 28 to Westlake Hills. Nineteen of those students requested busing to their new school—five to Westlake and 14 to Westlake Hills.

Janet Cosaro, assistant superintendent of instructional services, said they didn’t know what to expect when they informed parents of their right to pull their kids from Conejo.

“We were not sure how many would want to transfer as many parents told us they like their neighborhood school and the support they receive for their children before, during and after school,” Cosaro said. “They are also happy with the parent-involvement activities.”

There are 495 students who attend Conejo Elementary— 141 of those are in the Open Classroom magnet school there. One of the students transferring to Westlake was from Conejo’s magnet.

The school entered Program Improvement because two of the school’s subgroups—English learners and Hispanics—didn’t increase their scores as much as they’re required by the state.

Forty-six percent of the students in those groups needed to test at the advanced or proficient levels on their tests, and, according to Adequate Yearly Progress scores, they did not.

Conejo Elementary scored a 798 on the Academic Performance Index (API)—two points below the state goal of 800.

Some groups of students scored well over 850 on the test.

But schools with students who don’t make the required growth two years in a row are sent into Program Improvement.

If in the second year of the program the school again doesn’t reach the target numbers, the district must use certain state funds for supplemental services designed to help the students test better.