Simi Valley Board Studies Plan to Let Parents Choose Children’s Schools

The Simi Valley Board of Education is weighing a proposal from the city schools superintendent to allow parents to shop around and send their children to the public elementary and middle schools of their choice.

Under the present system, pupils in kindergarten through ninth grade are assigned to the schools closest to their homes. Parents can get their children transfered to other schools only under special circumstances and must provide transportation.

The new system, first discussed at a board meeting last month, would encourage parents to shop for the school they most want their child to attend by opening up enrollment at each of the city’s 19 elementary and four middle schools.

The proposal, which has the support of three of the school board’s four members, also calls for establishing a vast bus system along Simi Valley’s major roadways so any child could ride to any school throughout the district.

“It’s an idea whose time has come,” said Schools Supt. John Duncan, who believes it would make schools more responsive to parents’ wishes for quality education. “Schools would compete to retain their students.”

The proposal, if adopted, is unlikely to go into effect before the 1990-91 school year, board member Mimi Shapiro said.

Most parents are still unfamiliar with the plan, said Ilsa Shelton, president of the Simi Valley PTA Council. “It’s innovative, but until parents have had a chance to look at it, I can’t comment on it.”

Panel Recommendation

The proposal mirrors a June 28 recommendation by the California Commission on Educational Quality to the governor and could make Simi Valley one of only a handful of school districts in the state to establish open enrollment, Duncan said.

The commission’s report said the panel recommended opening enrollment “to provide greater parental choice for their children’s educational opportunities and to encourage schools to become more effective.”

Some Simi Valley school officials, however, said they were concerned that pitting one school against another would be detrimental and that parents would shy away from some schools because the buildings are not in top physical condition.

“Individual teachers will want to know what kind of competition they are talking about,” said Bill Davenport, vice president of the Simi Teachers Assn., adding that he was puzzled because the board is considering the matter during summer when many teachers are away.

Although he could not speak for the teachers association, Davenport said he is personally opposed to the idea.

“I don’t think we need a situation where administrators are saying: ‘My school is better than your school,’ We live in a capitalist society where competition is a good thing, but education is a different ballgame than selling a local brand.”

Duncan said he believes the competition would only make the schools sharper.

“My feeling is that parents really need an opportunity to have a choice,” Duncan said. Opening the enrollment would bring teachers and administrators closer to the consumer and encourage schools to become more effective, he said.

Board Skeptic

Lewis Roth is the one school board member who has withheld support for the idea. “I’m a business person, but I’m not sure that competition within the district would be a healthy situation,” he said.

Under the new enrollment proposal, parents still would be able to send their children to the nearest neighborhood school. But when openings exist, they could enroll their children elsewhere.

During a meeting last week, the board told Duncan to gather more information on open enrollment and to arrange visits to school districts where it is practiced.

In Irvine, which has had open enrollment since 1977, most parents keep their children in schools close to their homes, said David Brown, superintendent of the Irvine Unified School District.

The Orange County school district--which is similar to Simi Valley in size, appropriations and racial makeup--has not experienced any problems from the competitive nature of the policy, Brown said.

Some of the potential ill effects that have not surfaced in Irvine include racial segregation or an influx of white parents wishing to avoid busing, he said.

“Parents have been choosing where to send their children ever since this school district was formed, and it’s worked well,” Brown said.

Renovation Stressed

Helen Beebe, one of Simi Valley’s three school board members who support open enrollment, said her only concern is getting school buildings renovated before the policy would go into effect. “I don’t want parents making choices until the physical plants are equal.”

Last month, Simi Valley voters rejected a $35-million bond measure for public school improvements such as roof repairs, resurfacing parking lots and renovating or installing heating and air conditioning systems.

But school board members last week decided to return to the voters next March with another $35-million bond measure. The original measure had failed by 2% to get the two-thirds vote needed for approval.

If adopted, the open enrollment system would not apply to high schools because extracurricular activities such as organized sports might suffer, Duncan said.

Roth says he wants more information on Duncan’s proposal and wants to see how the public will react to the idea of open enrollment. “Right now,” he said, “I’m less than supportive.”

The fifth member of the school board, Tom Harmon, died June 13.