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Board begins school‑closure planning and coordinates with county on surplus‑land study; trustees warn of RFP timing conflicts
Summary
Superintendent told trustees the district has contracted with School Services of California to guide a school‑closure process; county staff also described a SCAG grant to study district surplus sites for affordable housing. Trustees voiced concern that county community meetings could confuse or undercut ongoing RFPs for Washington School and asked staff to coordinate timing and outreach.
The Ventura Unified School District board received parallel briefings on two closely related subjects: the district’s newly launched school‑closure process and a county‑led study of public lands to assess housing opportunities.
Superintendent Dr. Antonio Castro said the board’s contract with School Services of California will guide a transparent, community‑facing school‑closure process. He said the district will call the work “school closures,” not “consolidation,” and that staff expect the committee to prepare recommendations between the end of the school year and early summer, with subsequent planning and implementation phases to follow. Dr. Castro emphasized process and community engagement, saying the district will use matrices and technical guidance to evaluate options.
County officials Chelsea Russell (County Executive Office, Community Development) and Tracy McCaulay (County housing solutions director) described a Southern California Association of Governments grant to assess public lands for potential affordable housing. They said the county will host community meetings for the sites included in the study (the ESC/Stanley Avenue area and a McMillan parcel) and coordinate outreach in January with notifications in December.
Trustees raised a central concern: Washington School has an active RFP process that closes in roughly two weeks, and some trustees warned a county community meeting about the same site could confuse the public, discourage private bidders, or create false hope. One trustee said, “if we've already closed the RFP process and then we're having a forum with the public, it's… going to kick up a lot of concerns.” County staff and district leadership agreed to coordinate, and trustees asked staff to consider omitting a separate Washington‑site community meeting if it would undercut the existing RFP process.
District and county staff emphasized they will work to make the meetings additive and to include clear disclaimers about each process’s status. Trustees also asked the district to post clear timelines and to make distinctions on meeting notices so the public understands when an RFP process is active and when a grant‑funded study is gathering community input.
Next steps: the county will work with district staff and consultants to finalize dates and formats (likely January for public meetings) and district staff will return to the board with a plan that minimizes overlap with RFP procedures and clarifies public messaging.
