Superintendent Mario Contini Normally, I reserve this column for general issues of interest facing public education and Conejo Valley Unified School District. However, due to the many letters to the editor and public statements made about Bridges Charter’s desire to locate at the University School site, it’s necessary at this time to provide some clarification.

Although Bridges Charter emerged from the Open Classroom Leadership Magnet at Conejo Elementary School, it will be a separate public school. Once the charter school opens in the fall, it will not be part of CVUSD. The Open Classroom Leadership Magnet, however, will continue to operate as part of the school district.

The charter and the magnet offer very similar instructional approaches.

The charter will add a seventh grade in its first year of operation, and the magnet is adding Stephen Covey’s “Leader in Me” program, creating a strong leadership component that will benefit all students, staff and parents at the school.

Bridges has made a fairly aggressive request that it be given facility space at the University Elementary School campus, which has had some vacant classrooms since it closed as a regular elementary school last year. There will be costs associated with placing the charter at University or at any school in the district.

Depending on where the school is located, there will also be an impact that could impede CVUSD’s plans to maintain or expand existing programs.

When the school board decided to close University due to severe declining enrollment, it considered leasing the facility to bidders. In fact, the district received a bid to lease the school for $235,000 per year. However, the board decided to use the site for pre-K programs to provide potential benefits to students and parents throughout the district. As a result, even though the site is partially vacant this year, it will be nearly full next year based on current plans.

Last July, several months prior to the submission of the Bridges Charter petition, an Early Childhood Development Center was established at the University campus. The center includes offices for early childhood programs, parent information, preschool and child care programs. CVUSD invested more than $100,000 and a great deal of time establishing the center.

More than a year ago, the district made a commitment to expand the center and to move the special education preschool and speech-language programs from Horizon Hills to the University campus as well. This was also intended to open up space at Horizon Hills and allow expansion of the parenting program there.

These plans will fill the University campus next year. Bridges Charter’s request for that site, if granted, would require a change in these plans.

District staff is analyzing reasonable options for placement of Bridges Charter next year. Attorneys representing the leadership of Bridges Charter have forwarded written objections to the district’s initial proposal to co-locate the charter at Horizon Hills. Staff is reviewing these objections in a factual and open-minded manner.

At the next regular meeting of the Board of Education, staff will provide various options for board consideration. I can assure this community that each option considered will fully comply with state regulations that prescribe what charter facilities should be provided. The facilities provided will be every bit as modern and well-maintained as those of other district schools.

We recognize that many parents have chosen to send their children to Bridges, and we agree those children deserve safe, clean and appropriate classrooms. We will be meeting directly with Bridges representatives to discuss facility solutions that meet the needs of both the charter and the district. We are hopeful the dialogue will be fruitful.

Contini is the superintendent of Conejo Valley Unified School District.