Camarillo Unification and Measure U information
- Written by Mana Tulberg
- Posted October 2, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Information on Measure U regarding Camarillo Unification
Measure “U”
Source: County of Ventura: County Clerk and Recorder
Reorganization of School Districts to Form the Camarillo Unified School District. Shall the Camarillo Unified School District be formed from the territory of the Pleasant Valley School District and the Somis Union School District and a portion of the Oxnard Union High School District, with the Somis Union School District to remain a separate elementary school district?
Filed under:
Ventura County Schools
In regards to Measure U, separating Camarillo and Oxnard school districts to create the Camarillo Unified School District would most likely have a huge negative impact on teachers and therefore the quality of education for Camarillo students. Oxnard Union is one of the highest paying districts in the entire area. Breaking with Oxnard would most likely reduce teachers salary and Camarillo’s collective bargaining power, as Oxnard encompasses more schools. I am unsure how it would effect pay scales, unionization, health benefits and current jobs of Camarillo HS staff, faculty and so on because each school district functions separately. Teachers have to take a pay cut to switch districts…(vusd and ouhsd have different pay scales, medical plans, union affiliations and so on for example). There is no such thing as a lateral transfer when it comes to primary and secondary education in the state of California. This could potentially make the new school district a less attractive place to work for more experienced teachers and administration, especially at the new high school, thereby reducing the quality of education in Camarillo.
In the mean time the new high school in Camarillo is unbuilt, which would mean if the 800 Camarillo residents currently attending Rio Mesa HS were transfered to Adolfo HS this would result in a severe crowding problem. The impact on Rio Mesa of course would be a sudden lack of students and a cut of educational programs like AP classes.
This will raise taxes in Camarillo and Somis especially, but also in Oxnard. As Oxnard is a much larger city than Camarillo, most of the funding for schools in Camarillo is paid by the citizens of Oxnard–70% to be exact. If Camarillo separates from Oxnard it will be responsible for paying paying its own education bills, divided up by much fewer residents. The new district would receive new money, but would have to spend as much or more to run the two high schools leaving tax payers from Camarillo and Somis alone to bare the burden of the bill and possibly resulting in a deficit. In addition, Oxnard School District would have to relocate Frontier elsewhere.
NO ON U!!!