Elementary schools will serve grades K-5By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

Moorpark Unified School District officials voted unanimously on Tuesday to change some school attendance boundaries and to transform elementary school campuses into kindergarten through fifth-grade neighborhood schools. The changes will start to take place in the fall.

The move will ensure that local schools represent the diverse population of Moorpark evenly, officials said. The boundary alterations will primarily affect Campus Canyon Elementary School, where about half the students use the free or reduced lunch program. About 32 percent of Campus Canyon students are English learners.

"The bottom line is the benefit for our students so they can succeed," said school board President Mindy Yaras.

About 130 youth who live in downtown apartment and condo complexes and are currently bused to Campus Canyon will be transferred to Mountain Meadows, Arroyo West or Peach Hill schools. Families that will be affected by the boundary changes have been notified, said Linda Bowe, Campus Canyon principal.

Children slated to move into the new developments planned near downtown will be assigned to Campus Canyon, said Holley Tolliver, a parent who serves on the Vision 2010 Transition Team. Officials anticipate those children will not use the free or reduced lunch program and will be primarily English speakers.

A few children from Peach Hill will be reassigned to Arroyo West, she said.

The Vision 2010 team is made up of principals, teachers and parents who represent all the public elementary schools in Moorpark. The committee also includes a parent representing each of the middle schools.

"When we looked at boundary changes, we really considered neighborhoods," said Tolliver.

The Vision 2010 group also suggested changes that will affect about 70 middle school students. The transfers will help keep elementary school and middle school boundaries consistent so children can grow up together and demographics will be more balanced.

"These modifications eliminate disparities," Tolliver said.

The Vision team also proposed to transition all the elementary schools into kindergarten through fifth-grade campuses. The phase-in process has already begun at Campus Canyon and Peach Hill elementary schools. Those two campuses offer fourth-grade classes now and will add fifth grade in the

fall.

"All elementary

schools should transition into K5 neighborhood schools," said Cathy Wilson, a teacher who serves on the Vision 2010 team.

Mountain Meadows and Arroyo West, which currently serve K-2 and third through fifth grades respectively, will not change until after bond projects are completed at these schools. Each will get an additional classroom building, according to Larry Brown, assistant superintendent of business.

"People want neighborhood schools and they don't want their kids to move frequently," trustee Ron LaGuardia said. Although the changes might cause some hardship now, the stability they'll provide in the future will benefit the majority, he said.

"Parents prefer to have continuous K-5 schools," District Superintendent Ellen Smith said.

To help balance ethnic and socioeconomic needs, the district already converted Flory Elementary into a magnet school for science and technology and Walnut Canyon was named a "school of choice" with an emphasis on performing arts.

The district anticipates that about 1,500 additional students will attend local schools by 2010. A new K-8 school that was slated to open in the Moorpark Highlands in 2007 has been delayed, school officials said.