Readers applaud March 10 editorial

We applaud the editorial opinion expressed in The Acorn last week, suggesting "education fundraisers be a cooperative, regional approach that benefits all and minimizes the taxpayer burden." The Las Virgenes Educational Foundation (LVEF) is dedicated to doing exactly that —seeking and creating regional opportunities for districtwide school support that address our communities’ needs in a fair and sensible approach.

It should be noted that in the Las Virgenes school district alone, we currently have 14 different parent organizations that conduct local fundraising efforts for the 13 schools and the special education students. In addition, the three middle schools and two high schools each have another slate of organizations, including student council, ports boosters, music,and drama, each working to raise money to support their programs.

It is estimated that these groups look to our local community for well over $2 million a year. Add to that the overlapping communities represented by the Oak Park and Conejo school districts, plus all the non-education community groups, like youth sports, scouts, YMCA, religious groups, charities, senior support, and such, and you can see that our residents and businesses bear an incredible burden.

Our shared challenge is to find ways to lighten the load, both on our dedicated support groups and on our region’s residents and businesses. It is critical that the cities in our school district be open to discourse with an eye to providing equitable solutions, regardless of existing structures or limitations. The time for circling the wagons is over, and our civic leaders must consider these issues are bigger than the individual cities within the school district.

The LVEF does not intend to go to the same well that our individual support groups rely upon, rather, we will approach sources that desire to support the entire district and will work with our community leaders to think out of the box. We feel we can work hand-in-hand with all of the education support organizations, including the new neighboring school district foundations, to better the educational climate and community identity of our amazing region.

We invite you to visit the LVEF’s new website at LasVirgenesEd Foundation.org to find out more.

Dave Moorman, Red Godfrey, Stuart Selter

Las Virgenes Educational

Foundation