MOORPARK : Public to Be Polled on District Schools

An advisory group studying the possible reconfiguration of Moorpark’s elementary schools will distribute a survey to gauge public opinion of the current configuration and the quality of education the schools provide.

The three-page survey will be mailed to 6,500 residents and businesses within the Moorpark Unified School District’s boundaries, at a cost to the district of about $3,200, said David Pollock, chairman of the Committee for Effective Schools.

Pollock said the district’s contribution will pay for printing and postage, but most of the cost of preparing and analyzing the survey will be paid by the Southwest Regional Laboratory through a federal research grant.

The surveys will be mailed next week and results should be available in about five weeks, Pollock said. The data will be used by the 29-member committee in its discussions of how to improve elementary schools, possibly through reconfiguration or the creation of magnet schools.

“We’re sampling about a quarter of the addresses in the district,” Pollock said. “It’ll give us scientifically based information to work with and that’s important because there are a lot of emotionally charged issues we’re dealing with.”

Questions posed in the survey, which will be anonymous, include basic background information, opinions on the present system and suggestions for change.

School board member Tom Baldwin said he supports the idea of polling the public. “I think this will give us a real handle on what our customers, which is exactly what the citizens of Moorpark are, think of the service we’re providing,” he said.