Parents try to save class

A group of parents are recruiting students from neighboring private schools to enroll in fourth- or fifth-grade classes at Willow Elementary School in Agoura Hills this fall If successful, the need for a split fourthand fifth-grade class next year will be averted.

The state budget crisis has forced the Las Virgenes Unified School District to take some money-saving steps, including the decision not to hire an additional teacher at Willow and instead combine two grades in one class.

"We know you have to look at the district as a whole," said parent Carol Levine to board members at the June 24 meeting. Nevertheless, since only 10 students are needed to prevent a split class, Levine and a group of parents have been promoting the school to parents whose children are currently in private schools or other school districts.

The district's formula would allow six teachers instead of five if it had a total of 175 students in grades four and five. Willow has 166 fourth- and fifth-grade students enrolled for the 2008-09 school year.

"We're 10 students short of making the magic number," said Sandi Pope, a fifth-grade teacher at Willow and president of the Las Virgenes Educators Association, the teachers union.

Levine said the group has targeted families whose children were displaced from their neighborhood schools in the Conejo Valley Unified School District when the school board voted in favor of closing University and Meadows elementary schools in Thousand Oaks.

Among their marketing efforts has been a "blitz" of fliers distributed to local businesses, said Willow parent Deanna Glassberg. Countrywide, Dole Foods and Farmers Insurance have been targeted with the group's campaign literature.

"I believe we are going to achieve the goal," Glassberg said. So far, six families have pledged to enroll their children at the school. Five of the pledged students now attend private school.

Glassberg admitted that their goal is difficult because the school district won't have a firm count on enrollment until August. "We're trying to hit a moving target," she said. "We don't know if people are coming or going."

If the group comes out two or three students short of their goal, Glassberg said parents are willing to chip in money to make up for the lost average daily attendance.

"We're thinking out of the box," Glassberg said.

Board President Cindy Iser commended the group for its marketing efforts. "To me this is a new thing," she said. "It's very interesting."

Superintendent Donald Zimring said the district must abide by certain laws. "Under no circumstances do we cherry-pick students," he said.

Rose Dunn, director of elementary education, said over the years many schools in the district have successfully operated split classes.

"In these cases, it is our policy to place children in the class who are independent workers and to work with teachers to teach the standards for both grade levels efficiently," Dunn said.

Although there are laws that dictate open enrollment, which means students from one school district can attend another school district if they obtain a permit, a school official who wishes to remain anonymous said many districts are withholding permits to retain as many students as possible during declining enrollment.

The school's parent-faculty association is restricted in how it donates to the school, said Pope at another meeting. While the gift policy allows the PFA to donate funds to the school district, money has never been used to hire a teacher. District officials, she said, must decide how PFA donations are distributed.