Glenwood Elementary School will be a little more crowded next fall.

The Conejo Valley Unified School District Board of Education voted Tuesday night to place Bridges, a new charter school, on the T.O. campus of Glenwood. Both schools will share the campus.

Dep. Superintendent Jeff Baarstad presented three options: co-locating Bridges at Glenwood, Park Oaks or the University Center, site of the shuttered University Elementary School.

The district already has plans to create a child development center at University.

Superintendent Mario Contini called Glenwood “the best option of probably not really great options.”

“No matter where we put the program, it’s going to create issues,” Contini said.

After concluding that the Park Oaks site wouldn’t be conducive to expansion if needed, Baarstad left the decision between Glenwood and University up to members of the school board.

“The question is, do potential benefits of the University Center to CVUSD justify potential disruption to Glenwood School and their community?” Baarstad asked.

Most of the board members decided the benefits were worth the trouble, with a 4-1 vote to place Bridges at Glenwood after much discussion.

“I think we will come to look at the child care center at University as another CVUSD point of pride,” said board member Betsy Connolly. “I’ve become more aware of all students, from birth to senior citizens, and the pressing needs we serve.”

Board member Mike Dunn opposed the motion, saying 335 of the 342 e-mails or letters he’s read asked him to place the charter at University.

The CVUSD board opposed the charter, but the county board approved its creation in February.

Because Bridges is a public school, albeit outside of the Conejo Valley district, CVUSD is required to provide it with a facility.

Enrollment at Glenwood will grow from about 335 to around 500 this year with Bridges. And if Bridges continues to expand as its board claims it will, more and more Glenwood students could be forced off the campus and transferred to other schools.

This year about 30 to 50 students must leave the campus to make room for Bridges, but enough parents have voluntarily moved their children that no one will likely be displaced against their will. “I want to assure parents . . . we’ll try very, very hard not to close your school and not to displace your students,” said board member Peggy Buckles.

Connolly agreed and asked for the Glenwood parents’ “trust.”

“I asked Dr. Baarstad for the figures on what it would take to grow the facilities on that campus,” she said. “I’m committed to spending . . . to expand so we never have to pressure families to leave.”

The move to Glenwood will likely cost the district about $100,000 to lease a portable office and classroom, as well as an additional $50,000 to move another classroom from Park Oaks. Areas for music, counseling, staff meetings and a special education learning center at Glenwood will be displaced to accommodate Bridges.

CVUSD had previously considered Horizon Hills, a home to preschool, parenting and speech classes. But Baarstad determined the costs to prepare the Horizon Hills campus for Bridges were too steep.

In the past, CVUSD officials said there have been threats of a lawsuit from the Bridges group if they weren’t granted the University Center site, which was their first choice throughout the process. But on Tuesday night, the often volatile tone between the two groups seemed to subside.

“The bottom line is that we at Bridges realize that you had a difficult job in reaching this decision,” said Randy Witt, president of the Bridges board.

“At the end of the day, we appreciate the fact that you have a very difficult decision to make. We appreciate the time that you’ve given to this effort,” he said.