Long-Term Plan Eyed for Crowded Schools

Just two weeks after approving a plan to relieve short-term overcrowding at Buena High School, the Ventura Unified School District Board of Trustees tonight will begin discussing long-term strategies to deal with overcrowding at all city schools.

“We want to begin talking with the board about setting parameters and timelines for the long-term planning process,” said Supt. Joseph Spirito.

The plan approved last month, which will take effect this fall, is a stopgap measure that will relieve overcrowding at Buena for three to four years. It will bus about 185 freshmen and sophomores from three east Ventura neighborhoods to cross-town Ventura High.

New housing developments in the east end of town are likely to aggravate already overcrowded conditions at many Ventura schools, and officials are contemplating building new schools.

The options for funding new schools range from bond measures that would have to be approved by two-thirds of the voters, to agreements with developers to trade property the district owns in the west end of town, Spirito said.

Several parents were angry last month that they had not been included in a committee that prepared the plan, and school officials vowed to include them this time.

“I think in the long-range plans I would like to have parents on board,” Spirito said. He added that the board would have to come up with a selection process for parents who want to be involved.