The following summary is from regular school board meetings during the summer on June 5, June 20 and August 14, 2024.
BUDGET
$239,920,486 estimated General Fund Revenue for 2024-2025.
$254,857,340 estimated General Fund Expenditures for 2024-2025.
Superintendent Mark McLaughlin said there would be a significant loss of one-time dollars in the coming year: “There is definitely an issue with budgets … Obviously, our budget LCAP is full of a lot of folks, and this will probably be the toughest round of conversations that need to take place since the 2007-08 school year” because 84-87 percent of the budget is made up of personnel.
Deputy Superintendent of Business Services Victor Hayek said, “We are running operational deficits; 2024-25 [school year] is about $15 million,” adding that 2025-26 has a projected $12 million deficit and 2026-27 has a projected $7 million deficit. The deficit is being covered in part by a $6 million transfer of funds from the Health and Welfare fund. A $3 million fiscal stabilization reserve will be used in subsequent years, Hayek said. He acknowledged any reduction in personnel would have an impact on the district, but his recommendation was to begin a gradual downsizing to minimize the impact. “We have to be real about it,” Hayek added. “It’s going to require some changes.”
Board President Cindy Goldberg recalled how in 2007-08, there were 10 percent cuts across the board in all departments. The first cuts started in administration as an attempt “to keep it as far away from the classroom as possible.”
That comment visibly upset McLaughlin. “You’re not going to get to $6 million by just district office cuts,” he asserted. “So it’s easy for the board to sit up here and say, cut the district staff … I’m going to tell you, we can’t get the stuff done.”
Goldberg seemed to take back her words, “I don’t think it’s easy to say …”
McLaughlin interrupted, “Well, it is! Cause it just was said. The only [cut] thing that was just said was district office. I’m sorry, but that is what was just said.”
PAYROLL
June: $20,818,803 (Certificated Staff $15,284,575; Classified Staff $5,534,228)
July: $4,938,140 (Certificated Staff $2,251,622; Classified Staff $2,686,518)
DONATIONS
$185,385 received during May. $34,652 received during June. The total for the 2023-24 school year is $1,486,907.
OUTDOOR SCHOOL
The student rate for the 6th-grade Outdoor Education Program will increase by $25 to $275 for the 2024-2025 school year. The camp rental cost was $253,448 for the 2023-2024 school year. Naturalists were paid $17.50 per hour. Schools may charge a student fee for school camp programs “provided that the fee is not mandatory, and no student is denied the opportunity to participate for nonpayment of the fee.”
BATHROOMS
Trustee Karen Sylvester mentioned bathrooms were a popular topic/question from students at an end-of-year celebration. Students “ask us lots of very good questions, many of which involved bathrooms.” (See the related article on page 3.)
REPORTS
Food: Child Nutrition Department found kids want chocolate milk (80 percent) over white milk (20 percent). Expected to feed 2,500 students daily during July as part of the free meals program.
Grades: Teachers are adopting Grading for Mastery in their classrooms. Trustee Karen Sylvester acknowledged this was a “pretty significant shift” for the district. Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Kenny Loo said the program allows for “retakes and redos and accepting late homework with no penalty.” Student Trustee Naima Kahl questioned how Grading for Mastery might “affect college, someone who learned under this mastery model versus someone who didn’t [in another district].”
Teachers: CVUSD received $3,739,625 in one-time funds — the Educator Effectiveness Block Grant — for professional learning (2021-2026) and has spent $2,222,872 to date.
Club: Jessica Bernacki, LGBTQ+ Advisory Council Chairperson, said 19 school sites have club representation, including 11 elementary schools. The council plans to increase that number.
APPOINTMENTS
Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee: Andrew Pletcher, Yonah Barkhordari, Tony Gitt and Chris Dulan.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Jen Unzen highlighted interest in flag football. Newbury Park High School (NPHS) junior varsity needs a coach.
Lydia Castagna, a Westlake High School (WHS) parent, said there were no locations in the entire state of California to take the SAT during August or October, popular times to take the exam. November 2024 at NPHS was the first date locally. She called it an equity issue for families who can’t fly their kids to a neighboring state to take the test there.
Magali Williams was surprised to receive an email stating child care at Walnut Elementary would close. No alternatives were offered. Hayek replied that a minimum number of students was required to keep it open.
Sam Thomas, a professor, spoke on behalf of his daughter, saying she doesn’t feel like she got the kind of education she could have had had there not been phones in the school culture.
Laura was concerned with all the kids being given Chrome Books. “This isn’t the educational experience that we want for our children.” She asked for a shift away from computers in elementary grades.
Julie Fruhman launched MAMA, Moms Against Media Addiction, a grassroots movement to get phones out of schools. Results include higher test scores, greater engagement, privacy in locker rooms and restroom privacy violations. “We want YouTube off our elementary kids’ laptops.”
Michael Fruhman asked for coherent and comprehensive cell phone policies.
Joe Ebert, a teacher, said classrooms that put aside phones during instruction perform better.
Emily Ebert, a local pastor and youth director, encourages students not to text during the school day but to wait until after school so students can focus in school.
Ann Carlet supports the policy for bell-to-bell phone-free schools. Her husband is a high school teacher who sees students watching movies during class. “Other local school districts have this policy. Let’s do this.”
Kendra Conti strongly supports a phone-free school policy. Consistent enforcement is key.
Katie Collins supports making phones inaccessible during the school day. The social aspect of the school day is as important as academics.
CONTRACTS
$4,300,000 Art Trek Inc. To settle the litigation, the district is purchasing the 703 Rancho Conejo Blvd property and the 711 Rancho Conejo Blvd property. The district is providing Art Trek a one-year license for continued use of the 703 Rancho Conejo Blvd property to afford Art Trek sufficient time to relocate its operations.
$678,720 STAR Education to provide after school program TK-5th grade students at Maple and Aspen Elementary schools (Elems).
$500,000 Aspiranet social service agency to address social, emotional, and behavioral needs of identified special education students and their parents or guardians.
$447,300 Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley to provide Extended Learning Program (ELO-P) to incoming sixth-grade students, English Learners, socio-economically disadvantaged, and/or foster students, or 7th and 8th grade McKinney-Vento Students at Colina, Los Cerritos, Redwood, and Sequoia middle schools.
$432,560 Ventura County of Education (VCOE) for special education transportation.
$333,240 STAR Education to provide an after school program for TK-5th grade students at Westlake Hills, Banyan, and Cypress Elems.
$302,088 Escape financial and payroll/personnel system through VCOE.
$300,000 Poms & Associates Insurance Brokers LLC to provide employee health benefits and insurance consulting/broker services.
$291,100 FS Contractors Inc. for quad improvements and landscaping at NPHS.
$220,000 California Association for Bilingual Education to provide professional learning and support for “district representatives to identify and cluster the critical topics to explore, conversations that will need to be conducted, and decisions that need to be made in analyzing and planning for the implementation of the professional development trainings.”
$218,850 for residential treatment center placement for Student #17-24/25.
$215,726 Residential Treatment Center Placement for four students.
$208,441 Q Student Information Systems hosting through VCOE.
$196,640 Nutanix server and storage infrastructure.
$175,000 Cortica Behavioral Health Inc. to fill special education paraeducator vacancies.
$128,631 IXL Learning Inc. to teach and review math and English standards.
$116,749 special education non-public school placements of nine students.
$105,742 for three Workers Compensation claims during June and July.
$102,000 Ventura County Office of Education to provide physical therapy services and assessments to students.
$98,700 STAR of CA LLC to fill special education paraeducator vacancies.
$95,000 Amergis (formerly Maxim Healthcare Staffing Services Inc.) to fill special education paraeducator vacancies.
$92,000 Conejo Recreation and Park District to provide an after-school program for Acacia Magnet School.
$86,554 STS Education for Lightspeed Systems to add classroom management software for the district’s web-filtering solution.
$85,510 Scholastic Literacy Pro, a web-based reading comprehension program.
$75,000 HopSkipDrive Inc. to provide transportation services to students and families in need.
$73,780 Instructure Inc. (Mastery Connect) for a formative and benchmark assessment system.
$65,000 Carmen Rosenberg to assist district nurses with hearing and vision screenings for students.
$50,000 special education interdistrict services agreement for one student.
$50,000 EverDriven Technologies LLC to provide transportation for students and families in need and those facing insecure housing.
$50,000 Hernandez Consulting Services for Worker’s Compensation consulting services.
$48,611 Companion Corporation for Alexandria Software Services, a web-based textbook and library management system.
$42,400 The Genesis Group to fill special education paraeducator vacancies.
$40,447 Oak Grove Center in Murrieta for residential treatment center placement of student #18-23/24.
$38,978 WHS Spirit Cheer Teams to attend UCA Cheer Camp during July in La Quinta.
$35,649 ESGI LLC for up to 35-student one-on-one assessment solutions for TK-2nd Grade, ESL, SEL, and special education students.
$35,000 contract with Stepping Stones Group LLC for special education-related service positions as vacancies arise.
$34,852 Dynamic Education Services Inc. to provide tutoring/instruction and behavior intervention/counseling.
$30,524 n2y LLC cloud-based special education learning platform.
$30,000 All Languages Interpreting & Translating Inc. to provide interpreting and translating services.
$30,000 to the Ventura County Office of Education (VCOE) to provide special education assessments and services.
$30,000 Conejo Recreation and Park District to provide an after-school chorus program for TK-5th grade students.
$28,689 three-year renewal contract with Granicus for video streaming and archival services for school board meetings.
$28,457 Turnitin Holdings LLC (Turnitin.com) for high school web-based writing assessment and plagiarism detection. Trustee Lauren Gill voted against the platform, saying, “I have a problem with students being told that their work may not be original.”
$26,000 Ventura County Office of Education to provide orientation & mobility services and assessments to students.
$23,918 Seesaw Learning Inc. as an alternative to written assignments where students can record, scribe, match, or type into assignment templates.
$23,500 Infinity Communications & Consulting, Inc. for Federal Communications Commission’s Category One E-Rate consulting services.
$22,697 Pitney Bowes SendPro MailCenter for outgoing district mail.
$22,000 Cardio Partners Inc. to track and maintain AEDs throughout the district.
$21,701 ExploreLearning LLC for purchase of Gizmos licenses.
$21,000 Secural Security Corporation for security and supervision at the Conejo Valley Adult Education campus.
$20,118 NoRedInk, a web-based writing program at Walnut Elem., Redwood MS, NPHS and WHS.
$18,576 renewal contract with Diligent Corporation for the BoardDocs agenda management system.
$18,000 The Center Fall College tour in the Washington, D.C., area for 10-15 students Oct. 18-21.
$17,017 John Tracy Center to provide auditory verbal therapy services for students.
$16,500 APA Speech Therapy Inc. for a 90-day contract extension.
$16,300 Journalism Club to attend the NSPA Journalism Convention in Philadelphia, Nov. 5-9.
$15,675 Franklin Covey three-year contract for Leader In Me training at Conejo Academy.
$15,000 contract with AMN Healthcare, Inc. for special education-related service positions as vacancies arise.
$14,999 ARM Glass & Windows Inc. d/b/a Preferred Glass & Windows for repairs.
$14,999 Black Gold Industries for oil and hazardous waste pickup.
$14,999 California Boiler for boiler service, testing and repair.
$14,999 Carter Fire Protection d/b/a Integrated Fire & Safety for inspection and repair.
$14,999 Castle Air Inc. for HVAC service and repair.
$14,999 CCI Chemical Corp for cooling tower water treatment.
$14,999 CJ Seto Support Services Inc. for hazardous waste pickup.
$14,999 Dan John William Tracey d/b/a Airdraulics Inc. for vehicle lift service.
$14,999 Gold Coast Tree Service Inc. for tree maintenance.
$14,999 Koolco Mechanical Inc. for ice machine service/repair
$14,999 Reliable Floor Covering Inc. for floor repair/replacement.
$14,999 Ron O’Brien & Troy Corley d/b/a Bee Specialist for bee and hive removal.
$14,999 Versatile Fall Protection LLC for PAC rigging inspections.
$14,525 Thousand Oaks High Schools Spirit Cheer Teams to attend the USA
Elite Dance Camp in Indian Wells, CA
$13,395 for 30 WHS students to attend USA Summer Dance Camp in Indian Wells during late July.
$11,907 n2y LLC training special education teachers to use the platform.
$11,173 renewal contract with EdFiles, Inc. to provide an electronic storage system of employee and payroll records.
$10,900 Educational Policy Improvement Center d/b/a Inflexion to provide consultant services in support of Dual Language Immersion and Newcomer Academy Programs.
$10,375 John Tracy Center to provide auditory verbal therapy services for children with hearing loss.
$10,000 Braille Abilities LLC for student assessments.
$9,900 Encompass Consultant Group Inc. for land surveying services for the Colina Middle School modernization project.
$8,000 Craig Newton to perform music in TK and Kindergarten.
$6,570 Total Compensation Systems, Inc. to prepare an actuarial study of retiree health liabilities under GASB 74/75.
$6,532 EdFiles for electronic student records storage.
$6,500 Laurie Cottrell to provide special education assessment and support for a student enrolled in the district.
$5,833 Greenberg Traurig, LLP for lobbying services and support in opposition of SB 897.
$5,775 Bay Actuarial Consultants workers’ compensation fund an actuarial study.
$5,665 Nearpod, Inc. videos, virtual lessons, and activities for a class or single student.
$4,800 Orion Structural Group Inc. for structural engineering on the Newbury Park High School modular building project.
$4,750 Regents of the University of California for an additional virtual training day at the district.
$4,950 Explore Learning for online math services at EARThS.
$4,586 Ed Files Inc. records management at the district.
$3,914 In-n-Out Burger for Senior Sunset at TOHS.
$2,742 BrainPop LLC for instructional software at EARThS.
$2,600 JuiceMind Inc. for coding software at Westlake High School.
$2,172 Magic Jump Rentals Ventura LLC for the 8th-grade promotion at Colina MS.
$1,860 Lifesigns Now for onsite and virtual American Sign Language interpretation.
$1,799 Heartland School Systems d/b/a My School Bucks to provide an online portal for students and families to buy (self-funded) Chromebook Accidental Damage Protection (ADP) coverage at $25 per device. This will be used to invoice students and families for lost and damaged Chromebooks not covered under an ADP plan. The transaction fee schedule is as follows: 4.6% + $0.40 per transaction. The district will receive the net amount after fees have been deducted.
$1,530 Learning A-Z LLC for instructional software at EARThS.
$1,500 Alyssa Kass d/b/a Kassco Investments LLC to provide special education assessment and support of students in the district.
